Golden Dragon Dance
by Tealya
Summary: Filia's in heat and Xellos is high. What more do you need to know? (L/G, Z/A, X/F couplings)
1. Duty Before Pleasure

Ta da! A new story! It follows my last one. If you haven't read the last one, that's alright. You'll catch on pretty quickly as to who is who.  
  
(Chibi Xaina come's running out...wait, Xaina already is a chibi... Regular Xaina comes out.) Now, before anyone asks, no this is not a lemon. This never will be a lemon. FF.net doesn't allow lemons anymore, and Tealya's not good at writing that sort of stuff anyway. Xellos says this will most likely get lemon scented and definitely lime, but no all out lemon. Young impressionable people like me could be reading so we can't corrupt them... well, corrupt them more then more then they already are. Anyway, on with the fic.  
  
(Tealya comes back out with several mean looking lawyers behind her) Oh, and by the way, I don't own slayers. I really want to but no one will give them to me. I do, however, own Xaina, Destiny, and the birds (Prince, Dragon, Monster, and Outcast) and the main ideas behind this story.  
  
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Everything around her was dark. There was no light anywhere, except around her body. She knew she should be afraid of such darkness, and yet she wasn't. There was something comforting about it. She hugged her legs to her chest and let her head rest on knees. Her eyes stared lazily off in to the endless darkness as she let out a small sigh of contentment. Questions of where she was or how she had gotten there were far from her mind. Things felt "right" so she didn't try to change them.  
  
A pair of strong hands reached around from behind her and wrapped around her body. She suddenly found herself standing with no memory of ever moving. The hands clasped her tightly yet were gentle. She sighed again and leaned back against the body of this man behind her. Small kisses were placed on the top of her head. One of the hands slipped over her breast while the other slipped lower and lower down her abdomen...  
  
~~~~~  
  
Filia jerked as she suddenly woke up. The dragon woman glanced around the room just to be sure she was awake. Lina and Amelia were both in their beds asleep. Destiny was meditating in the corner. The female birds were settled by the window huddled together. Xaina was snuggled up in the same bed as the dragon woman. Moonlight spilled in through the windows. Filia groaned and slowly sat up, being careful not to wake the sleeping child as she did so. The last thing she needed was an exhausted half monster child on her hands in the morning.  
  
As she heard Lina grumble something in her sleep and roll over, she began to wish the inn had had more then two rooms available. Lina's sleep talking tended to keep her up a lot. She wouldn't have minded sharing a room with Amelia since the young princess hardly ever talked in her sleep. 'It couldn't be helped,' she mentally reminded herself. 'They only had two and there's no way I'm sharing a room with that nomagomi.' The young dragon woman glared at the wall that separated the two rooms as if she could see him through it.  
  
She took a deep breath and then settled back down among the blankets. Filia cradled the child in her arms and wished she had Val there with her too. She had been away from home now for two months and she was sure Jilas and Grobos thought she was dead. While she knew they loved little Val, she wasn't always too sure of their parenting skills. 'He had better be safe when I get back,' she thought as her mind started dipping back in to dreamland.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Her head buzzed and her breathing was shallow. Her vision refused to focus and the room felt like it was spinning. All of her muscles felt relaxed. Moving any part of her body felt like she was trying to control a puppet on strings. Had she been older, Xaina might have recognized the symptoms as the effects of depressant drug. Since she was only four, however, she thought she was ill. That wasn't to far from the truth, though. The child sat up. She tried to focus her vision on one of the adult women there but the room refused to stop spinning. After several moments of concentrating, she figured out they were not awake.  
  
Xellos... he's not asleep? He doesn't sleep? her mind made it sound like questions than facts she already knew. The girl tried to concentrate on teleporting, but every time she thought she was just about there, her whole mind would get fuzzy. The little neko monster refused to give up. Somehow, the girl managed to stand up and try several more times. Nothing. In fact, now that she thought about it, she couldn't really feel any of her monster abilities. Feeling a slight panic rising up in her mind, she reached around to grab her tail or wings (whichever she could find) and make sure they were still there. Instead, she found she had turned to fast and ended up face down in the bed again.  
  
A small tinkling sound behind her brought her attention to the bell on her tail ring. Yep, she still had a fuzzy black tail. The black and white things that were draped over her sides had to be her wings. Her amethyst eyes focused in on the bell as her tail wagged lazily. The neko monster purred and a contented smile spread across her little human face... Her mind suddenly jerked back to attention. She had to get to Xellos. That was her goal, right? She was having trouble keeping track of what she was suppose to be doing.  
  
With slow, carefully calculated movements, the child managed to gently get out of the bed and make her way to the door. Her little bare hands groped at the nearest objects they could find for support. Her feet dragged over the floor. Just as she was about to touch the wood of the door, she felt a strong pull as if millions of strings had been tied to her. "What...? Oh, the bond thingy. Mus' be too far." She gave a tug at the invisible rope but it refused to move. The girl pulled harder. Her breath started come in shallow gasps and she stopped. Xaina's muscles suddenly turned to jelly and she flopped to the ground face first. She tried to force herself to get up but couldn't. Her body just didn't want to cooperate with her. This was so frustrating. Using all her strength, the girl turned herself on to her back, crunching her wing in the process. Pain shot up her back. She couldn't do anything and all attempts at moving off her aching wing failed. Xaina finally gave up her fight to move and gave in to her instincts that told her exactly how to react in this kind of situation; she burst out in loud sobs of anguish. Just as she had intended, she startled the women awake and brought the attention she desperately wanted to herself.  
  
Lina was the first one up and to her. The sorceress' face was completely white as if she'd seen a ghost. She dropped down to child and scooped the girl up. Her face looked panicked. The sorceress kept saying something but Xaina couldn't for the life of her, force herself to quiet down enough to make out the words. The sobs just got harder and harder as she tried to keep quiet. Filia and Amelia dashed over to the sides of the red head and began speaking as well, but she still couldn't grasp it all. All she could figure out was her name, but even that was a little garbled.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"From the sounds of it, that brat has probably woken up the whole inn by now," Zelgadiss grumbled as he climbed back up in his bed.  
  
Xellos smirked for a moment as he took in the negative emotions. This was a good morning snack. In fact, he would have happily stayed their all day if he was guaranteed to be allowed to feast on the chimera's misery. The wave of panic and anguish from his young charge, however, could not be ignored for long. Something must have been very wrong if she was crying this loud so early in the morning. He could never recall a time in her life when she had made so much noise. The trickster sighed internally and disappeared from the room and reappeared in the next room. Lina, Amelia, and Filia could yell at him all they wanted to for appearing in their room uninvited later. However, he had a feeling, they would most likely be grateful for him to take her and keep the girl quiet.  
  
The first thing the monster noticed when he appeared in the room was all of the woman, except Destiny, were surrounded around the wailing child Lina held in her arms. All of them were in the complimentary pajamas the inn provided and all of them were panic stricken and tired. Destiny was by the window watching the whole scene while she stroked the white bird. The second thing he noticed was the interesting and familiar pungent aroma in the air. Oh how he had longed for that smell. He knew exactly who it came from and why. The monster couldn't help but grin like a cat that had just spotted a helpless mouse when he laid his slitted eyes on her.  
  
Another powerful wave of panic overtook him. 'Duty then pleasure,' he assured himself. 'And there will be plenty of time for pleasure later.' The trickster teleported in front of the women, snagged the crying girl, and before any of the women could protest, he teleported on to the roof.  
  
Xellos placed one finger in her mouth and the girl chomped down on it. Her little fangs easily went through the pseudo flesh. A moment later, she realized what she had done and shyly released his finger. Xellos smiled. "Better?"  
  
"No," Xaina whimpered.  
  
"Light headed, dizzy, tired, heavy, slow, nauseous?"  
  
"All 'cep the nah-sis," she girl breathed.  
  
"Figured as much. You're still too little to appreciate the situation..."  
  
"Apee-see-ate being sic'?" Her words slurred and she sounded more like a two year old then a four year old speaking.  
  
"Well, yes I guess it is kind of an illness. You'll feel better in a few hours. You just need time for the pheromones to wear off."  
  
"Huh?" Her droopy eyes stared at him in confusion.  
  
"Didn't you notice the weird smell in there?" The girl shook her head. Xellos smiled. Oh, now this was going to be fun. "Well, ya see, Xaina..." 


	2. Facts of Life

"What was that all about?" Lina asked no one in particular.  
  
"Maybe she had a bad dream," Filia suggested.  
  
"Must have been a pretty bad dream to get her wailing like that..."  
  
Amelia sniffed the air slightly and cringed a little. Now that everything had become calm again, she noticed the weird odor in the air. It wasn't unpleasant, just very strong. It kind of reminded her of perfume only a little more pungent. "What's that smell?" she more thought outloud then asked.  
  
The other woman paused and sniffed as well. "Hey, yeah, what is that?" the red head chorused.  
  
"What? I don't smell anything," the blonde insisted.  
  
"Do you smell it too, Miss Destiny?" the princess inquired. The ice woman nodded. The other women paused to think. Amelia glanced at her companions and really looked at them for the first time since their abrupt awakening. "Miss Filia, are your lips swollen?"  
  
Her comment caused Lina to stare at the dragon woman as well. "You look flush too. Are you sick?" the red head questioned.  
  
Unconsciously, Filia reached up and rubbed her face and lips. They didn't feel swollen to her, though her skin felt a little warmer the usual. "I feel just fine."  
  
"Yeah, well, you look kind of weird, like you have a lot of make up or something on."  
  
The blonde walked over to the mirror in the room. What could they possibly be talking about? 'If that namagomi did something to me last night...' Her thoughts trailed off as she saw her reflection. Just as Lina and Amelia had pointed out, her lips were a deep shade of red a looked a little bigger. Her cheeks were flushed a soft pink as well. She stared unblinking for several long moments before fainting.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Filia's hot? Does she have a fever or something?" Xaina inquired innocently.  
  
"No, she's in heat, not hot... well, if you ask a male dragon she is probably quite hot right now... but that's not what I'm getting at," Xellos tried to explain.  
  
"But isn't heat just another word for hot?"  
  
"Well yes it is... maybe I should l try explaining this another way. Xaina, have you ever wondered where babies come from?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Would you like to know?"  
  
"No, not..."  
  
"Great! Good to hear you're curious! You'll need that curiosity in the years to come! Your four years old and it's time you learn the facts of mortal breeding practices... I'll teach you about monsters' when your older and a little more mature."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Filia rubbed her aching head. Lina and Amelia had helped her to a bed to sit just as she had been regaining consciousness. "Miss Filia, are you alright?" Amelia asked with great concern.  
  
"Yeah, I think so," the former priestess sighed. "I just had the strangest vision..." Her eyes spotted the mirror again. A moan escaped her lips. "No, this can't be happening."  
  
"What?" the women inquired at the same time. Even Destiny seemed a little curious as to what was going on, though she said nothing.  
  
"I'm... I'm... I'm..." Filia whimpered.  
  
"Your what?"  
  
"I'm... I'm... I'm..."  
  
"Oh, just spit it out already!" Lina growled.  
  
"I'm in heat!" the blonde cried. Lina and Amelia exchanged confused glances and then urged her to continue. "I'm suppose to take a mate and have children."  
  
"Oh..."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Xaina floated a few feet further away from Xellos. Now that she was out of the room, she was beginning to feel a little better. "That's gross!" she snapped.  
  
The trickster shrugged. "That's just part of what happens. You wouldn't be here if your parents hadn't done that."  
  
"I don't care! That's just disgusting! Why would anyone WANT to to stick their tongue in someone else's mouth!?! Think of the germs! The cooties!"  
  
"You don't get sick by kissing people, Xaina... actually, there was this one time... but that's not important. Now come back down here. I still have more to teach you..."  
  
"I don't wanna know the rest!"  
  
"You have to learn it sooner or later and now is as good a time as any. Why, by your age, I already knew the breeding capabilities of half the species on this planet."  
  
"I don't care what you knew! I don't wanna know more!"  
  
"Aren't you the least bit curious?"  
  
The neko child crossed her arms together and gave him a pouty look. "Not at all."  
  
"Well, that's too bad because you're learning it anyway."  
  
~~~~~  
  
"So... ah, how exactly would you, ah, go about getting a mate?" Lina hesitantly inquired.  
  
"Normally, he would be within my own area..."  
  
"Which isn't exactly possible now. So what do you do if this happens?"  
  
"This doesn't happen!" Filia snapped as she leaped to her feet. She glared at the red head.  
  
Lina put up her hands defensively and smiled nervously. "Hey, whoa, calm down Filia. I'm just trying to help here." She waited a moment for Filia to cool her temper again. The dragon woman snorted and plopped back down on the bed. "Ok, so you don't have a group of dragons around. Just don't take a mate. You do go through this more then once in your life, right?"  
  
"Yes," Filia sighed and she covered her face with one hand. The other hand supported her elbow. "But I have to take a mate."  
  
"Why? Is there like some sort of law that says you have... to... There is, isn't there?" Filia nodded weakly. "Oh, great," the sorceress grunted sarcastically.  
  
"I don't have to have children but I do have to take a mate. Every dragon maiden must take a mate during her first blood fever..."  
  
"Blood fever?" Amelia inquired as she dried her face off after washing it.  
  
"Being in heat," the blonde explained. "Dragons call it blood fever. If I don't take a mate now, I'll never be allowed to have one."  
  
Lina massaged her temples while she processed the information. "In other words, we have to find some gold dragon who's willing to put up you for the rest of his life... Not that living with you would be bad or anything," the red head quickly added as she caught sight of Filia's blood curdling stare.  
  
"Aren't there a lot of gold dragons at Dragon's Peak?" the princess broke in.  
  
"Dragon's Peak? Hey, yeah! That isn't even too far from where we are, I think. Maybe two weeks walk. It'd be a lot less for a dragon who's flying there, I'm sure. You can catch up with us afterwords and bring whoever get's su--lucky enough to have you as his bride."  
  
"Go there? Alone?" the blonde whimpered.  
  
"Uh, yeah. We still have to get to Saillune, remember?"  
  
Fear swept over Filia's face. "I can't go alone!"  
  
"Why, Miss Filia?" Amelia questioned.  
  
"Because Xellos will follow me!"  
  
Lina and Amelia blinked several times in confusion. "Why would Xellos follow you? He doesn't have anything to gain from making you crazy while your getting a husband. I can't imagine he has any orders to follow you exactly, either. He has absolutely no reason to go after you," the petite woman pointed out.  
  
"It has nothing to do with gaining anything or orders."  
  
"What then?"  
  
Filia hesitated. She wasn't exactly sure she wanted to tell them about it. Some parts of the blood fever were quite disgraceful to her people. Her mind reasoned that they would figure it out anyway, so it was better if she just told them. "Well, you see," she began. She rubbed one arm as if it were sore and kept her eyes to the ground. "When a dragon has the blood fever, she let's out a whole bunch of pheromones in the air..."  
  
"We noticed."  
  
"And, well, that kind of makes her seem more attractive to male dragons... and..."  
  
"And what? I don't see how this has anything to do with Xellos."  
  
"Welllll... it kind of makes monsters have the same effects as human get with certain drugs..." she mumbled.  
  
"Xellos can get high off your scent?" Lina demanded. Filia nodded weakly. Her sapphire eyes were still focused on the ground. Had her cheeks not already been bright red, the other women would have noticed her blushing. "Explains what happened to Xaina this morning. Aren't dragons and monsters suppose to be bitter enemies?" Again, Filia nodded. "They why the hell would you develop something that would attract your enemies to you!?!"  
  
"It's not like we like it!" Filia snapped back. "It's the reason many dragon maidens were kidnapped and killed by monsters! If any of us could change it, we would! Oh! I hate this!" she cried and flopped back on the bed.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Zelgadiss sipped his coffee quietly in the common room of the inn. The place was almost deserted, save for two or three early risers and a waitress. The chimera preferred things this way. Being alone was the ideal setting as far as he was concerned, but he usually made himself content when there were a handful of other people there. The coffee was pretty good this morning. It wasn't too bitter and not too sweet. It was perfect for beginning the day.  
  
Of course, that was not how his day had begun. The sun hadn't even come up when his day started. It began when the little brat Xellos always had with him had started screaming and crying. Someone had made her stop, but then the Lina, Amelia, and Filia had started talking about something and ended up yelling at each other. Gourry had somehow managed to sleep through the whole thing, much to the chimera's annoyance. Well, he seemed to have half woken up when the kid started wailing, but then drifted right back off. Zel had been tempted to wake the swordsman up just so he wouldn't be the only who had to listen to the women carry on next door, but then remembered this was Gourry; nothing short of Lina being badly hurt put Gourry in a bad mood for long.  
  
His mind drifted back to the "discussion" the females in his traveling party had been having earlier. He had distinctly heard Filia yell something about Xellos following her. Didn't he always follow her so he could annoy her? Hadn't Xellos once mentioned something about her giving him the best meals? Why should she be so much more upset about it now...  
  
"Ah, Zelgadiss!" Zel choked on his coffee when the monster in question appeared right in front of him. "Just the person I was looking for!" Xellos chirped in his usually smug voice. "I need you to watch her for me while I do a little... research." The trickster dropped Xaina in the chimer's free hand and then disappeared. Zel blinked several times as he stared at the child suddenly placed in his care.  
  
__________________________________________________________  
  
(*shudders* Something about Xellos explaining the birds and the bees just scares me. I wonder how traumatized Xaina is going to come out of this? *starts grieving for the poor child's innocence* Anyway, I'm off to write the next chapter and I have no idea what is going to happen yet. Please review. I love reviews. They give me something to live for... something besides school, anyway.) 


	3. Hot People

Xaina's ears were folded back and her tail was puffed up to twice it's normal size. "Pervert," the child snorted. Zel stared at the girl in complete confusion. He had no idea what to do with her. The chimera didn't know the first thing about HUMAN children. How was he suppose to know what to do with a monster child. Of course, now that he thought a little about the concept of a monster child, he realized he had never even heard of monsters having children. Rezo had taught him that they made more of themselves by pulling out of a part of their power... and if that were true, then Xaina was technically an adult without much learning... but hadn't Filia said she was growing up like a human... she was half human, right? But monster's didn't reproduce in the same manner as humans...  
  
Zelgadiss dropped the child in the seat next to him and ignored her groan. This child was a contradiction in herself and he really didn't need to make his mind run in circles at the moment. It was too early for that.  
  
"What'd ya drop me for!" the girl snapped. Zel didn't answer her. He didn't even bother to look at her. Instead, he had turned his attention back to his cup of coffee. "It's mean to drop people, ya know... Yer a jerk too! ... Blue skinned weirdo." Xaina frowned as he continued to completely ignore her. The girl sighed and leaned back in the chair. Her head was still fuzzy from that morning. Her dizziness had gone away, though.  
  
A low rumble from the pit of her stomach reminded the little neko monster that she had not eaten today. "I'm hungry," she told the chimera. She sat up a little straighter and stared up at his eyes, though he still had not acknowledged her presence. "Is there anything to eat? ... Have you had breakfast yet?" Her stomach growled again. "Mr. Zelgadiss, I'm hungry..."  
  
"So then get some food," the chimera stated coldly.  
  
"I can't," she whimpered.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because Xellos isn't here."  
  
"Then go get Xellos."  
  
"I can't. He told me if I followed him right now he'd take me back to Wolfpack Island and make me do some training with the Master or Wraithand and they give me the creeps."  
  
"So then just order it for yourself," Zel grumbled. He was quickly losing his patience with this child.  
  
"I can't do that either."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because when I ask waiters to bring me something to eat they either look at me funny or say 'aren't you a cute little critter', give me a pat on the head, and leave. Nobody gives me anything unless an adult asks for it," Xaina explained. Her purple gloved hands reached over and grabbed Zel's sleeve. He glanced down at her for the first time since dropping her in the chair. Her big violet eyes stared up at him innocently. The child's lip stuck out in a pouty manner. She blinked several times which only added to her innocent appearance. Even the heartless mystical swordsman had to admit she was pretty cute. "Please. I really hungry. If you're mad about this morning, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to wake everyone up. I was just so scared."  
  
"Scared of what?" he asked with a little more concern. He tried to remind himself that she could manipulate a person's emotions, but he couldn't shake the sympathetic feelings he was starting to feel. She was just a child... a monster child, but still a child.  
  
"Cuz Filia's hot."  
  
Zel raised a curious eyebrow. "Filia's hot?"  
  
"Yeah... yer not a hot person too, are you?"  
  
"Uh... no..."  
  
"Good," the girl sighed. She released his sleeve and slumped back down with her hands folded together in her lap. "Hot people seem to make me feel sick."  
  
"Ok... um... Xaina... what are you talking about?"  
  
"Hot people."  
  
Zel took a sip of his coffee and took a deep breath before continuing. "What are hot people?"  
  
"People who are hot."  
  
"Can you please explain a little more than that."  
  
"Um, ok. Well, Xellos said Filia was hot and that's why she smells funny and I got sick this morning, 'cept I didn't smell anything. I just felt weird."  
  
'Filia is hot!?! What the hell has Xellos been teaching this kid!?! I may not want to know the answer to this, but...' "Xaina, what has Xellos been teaching you and what does it have to do with him thinking Filia is hot?"  
  
"I'm not really sure, but it was really yucky and people were sharing germs and eating each other's tongues."  
  
The chimera's eyes grew about two sizes bigger. "Eating each other's tongues!?!"  
  
"I think it's gross too but that's what he said. He even said they like it, which is even worse. And he said that Filia was hot so she had to have children... and, well, then he left me here..." she trailed off.  
  
"What the hell!?!" Zel snapped.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Miss Lina, just give it up already!" Amelia moaned.  
  
"No!" the red head growled.  
  
"Miss Lina, you are five and a half months with child and it is starting to show and those pants are never going to fit no matter how much you force them!" Filia snapped.  
  
"Yes they will!" Lina insisted. The sorceress tumbled back on the bed and began fighting with the offensive clothing to get them to close over her stomach. She paused ever few moments to scratch her stomach which was becoming pink and irritated where her skin was starting to stretch. Finally, the pants gave up the battle and relented to being worn. "Ha ha! See! I told!"  
  
Filia and Amelia exchanged unconvinced glances. "Yes, but can you sit up?" Destiny inquired for her seat by the window.  
  
The sorceress shot her a nasty glare. She tried to sit up, but the pants would not let themselves be stretched anymore. Even the baby inside began to protest and kicked several times. "Oh, stop complaining!" the petite woman snarled at her stomach. "It's not like you ever had much room in there anyway! Besides, we can't stay in here forever! I have a life to live, ya know!"  
  
"Perhaps it is time for a new pair of pants both you and the child can agree on," Xellos teased. Filia screeched and leaped (literally leaped) across the room where she ducked behind Lina. The trickster just smiled his usual carefree grin. "Wow, Filia. That wasn't bad. Maybe you should try out for the long jump sport."  
  
The dragon woman snatched her mace off the night stand and pointed it in his direction. "Get out of here, namagomi! Now or I'll...!"  
  
He suddenly disappeared. A second later, he reappeared behind Filia. "Or you'll what, hmmmm, my dear Filia?" The blonde felt a hand trace down her back. She screeched again and swung her mace around, nearly hitting Lina in the process. Xellos teleported out of the way and reappeared in front of her. His nose was almost touching her's. "Is that all?" He dodged and moved just to the side of her. "You missed." Her mace swung again and this time made contact with one of the beds. The bed snapped in half while an enraged Filia glared around the room as she searched for her target. "Such a violent little dragon."  
  
The lamp fell victim to the blonde's wrath. Her eyes were starting to glow red. "Hold still!"  
  
"Is the little dragon frustrated because she doesn't have a mate yet?" Xellos continued to tease.  
  
"Miss Filia, Mr. Xellos, stop!" Amelia cried. "You're destroying everything." The mirror was shattered. The princess turned to Lina. "Miss Lina, we have to stop them!"  
  
"No kidding! At this rate we're not going to have any money left over to buy even a pair of socks, let alone pants, or more importantly, breakfast!"  
  
"I quite agree," Destiny stated. She waved her staff. Her ebony eyes shut as she concentrated. A strange tingling feeling spread through all the occupants in the room. Xellos and Filia stopped in their bickering. All eyes focused on the pale woman. She suddenly stopped. Her eyes were glowing an eerie white. Suddenly, Xellos disappeared.  
  
The room remained silent as the tingling feeling faded from the women's bodies and Destiny returned to normal. "How did you do that?" all of them demanded of her at once.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Xellos scratched his head. How had he ended up back on Wolf Pack island? He felt a gentle tug on his cape and glanced over to see Xaina floating behind him. "I'm hungry," she explained.  
  
"When are you not hungry," he stated as he began to pout. "This isn't fair. I was having fun."  
  
"Sure didn't sound like fun from where I was," the child broke in.  
  
"That's because you're still to little to know what fun is. Oh well, I guess we can go back after a little meal break..."  
  
__________________________________________________________  
  
Ah, yes, the birds and the bees through the eyes four year old. Much fun was had while writing this chapter. Hey XellAn-Chan, I think Milgasia is cool too. I actually just finished watching the second season again with some friends, so I got to see him again. He will be in this fic a little later, promise. And Mika-Mika Tou, I promise some Z/A a little later. I even have this great little scene all planned out for when the slayers are back on the road. There will also be some L/G in it too. I haven't forgotten about them. It may just be a little while before I bring them up again. Getting Zel and Amelia together without making them incredibly OOC (which I'm sure I've done already) is not always easy. It's really taking some careful planning/writing (and the characters do not always help me with that). Well, I've yammered on enough, so 'till next chapter... 


	4. Life is happy, life is wonderful

'Stupid Xellos. Stupid Filia. Stupid inn. Stupid prophecy! Stupid baby! STUPID PANTS!!!!' Line mentally growled as she looked through the clothes. They all looked nice enough, but none of them were big enough. She didn't like the bigger sizes. They weren't her size! She wasn't fat! She knew she wasn't fat!  
  
The baby gave a gentle kick as it moved inside her. She glared at it. All of this was that little creature's fault. She loathed the being growing inside her. It wasn't suppose to be there. She didn't want it there. How could she let it grow there? How could she be dumb enough to get pregnant in the first place? How could she have not known sooner?  
  
Her mind came back to the last question. That was the one she had the most trouble with. She had always been very careful to keep track of everything about her body, especially after she and Gourry had eloped. It seemed impossible to think she wouldn't notice being late for four months. Yet, the kicking and moving inside her belly was a constant reminder that she had lost track. She had not paid attention just once... 'This is all Gourry's fault!' she mentally grumbled. 'He did this to me and I will make him pay for it for a VERY long time.'  
  
"I think it would be very pretty on you, Miss Amelia," Filia stated. She and Amelia had moved over to another part of the little shop after Lina had given them the look of eminent dragonslaves for trying to help her pick out clothes.  
  
Amelia held the lovely green dress back so she could look it over carefully. "I don't know. Green really isn't my color."  
  
"You could still try it on," the blonde insisted.  
  
Lina growled and went back to the clothes before her. She reached out and grabbed a pink pair that came close to the color of her current clothes. They were bigger around the waist and looked like they would hang off of her. She had to get them bigger then she currently needed, though. This baby was going to get bigger and so was she, so too big was necessary. The sorceress let out a disgruntled sigh before trudging off to the little cloth changing rooms. She struggled out of her old pair of pants and then slipped on the new ones. They felt baggy all around and only stayed up when she had her belt on. 'This stinks! I look fat in these!'  
  
A fluttering in pit of her belly reminded Lina once again of the being inside her. "Don't you ever sit still in there," she breathed out. It kicked back. "Guess not." One of her hands traced over the slight curve now showing on her petite body as she willed the baby to be still yet unconsciously encouraged it. "None of this is personal against you little baby, I just don't really want you. Frankly, you'd have been better off with some happy couple that actually wanted kids. You got to understand Gourry and I aren't exactly the parenting types... Well, maybe Gourry is, but that's because he has the IQ of a kid... and he'd guard you with his life. He... well, Gourry... is, well..." 'is already thrilled about all this and can't wait to see his child,' she mentally finished. "Just... just don't tell him any of this, okay? I don't need him making any more of a fuss over me then he already is. I don't even want to know what comes after carrying me everywhere and insisting on going ABSOLUTELY everywhere with me. We'll just, you know, keep this between the two of us for now, okay?" The baby gave another kick...or a punch. She wasn't sure which was which. Sometimes she thought the baby did both just to annoy her. Lina unconsciously smiled as she rubbed a hand over where the baby had moved.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Well, maybe something in blue would look good," Filia suggested as she pulled out a simple yet pretty blue dress. "It might bring out the color of your eyes a little."  
  
"I really don't need anything," Amelia insisted. "I already have more clothes than I know what to do with at home. I don't need any more. Besides, dresses aren't all that good for climbing trees or doing acrobatics in. I think I'll stick with what I already have."  
  
The dragon woman gave a disappointed sigh and put the dress back. She really preferred helping people shop over doing it for herself. She could never find things for herself, but she had always been good at spotting things that would look good on others. It was something she had picked up when she use to shop with her mother as a child. Part of her missed being young and naive again even if she was still horrified about what her people had done to the ancient dragons.  
  
Filia's whole body suddenly became tense. Her tail popped out and caught some curious glances from the people near by. A serge of anger passed through her body and she instantly knew who it was.  
  
"Looking for a new outfit, Filia?" his smug voice inquired. "About time. You should have replaced that drab little dress a long time ago..."  
  
"XELLOS!!!" she roared. The blonde whirled around, mace in hand, and came nose to nose with the monster in question.  
  
"Yeeesss?" the trickster asked in an arrogant tone which only furthered her anger.  
  
Her hand tensed around the handle of her mace as she struggled not to lose her temper. "Go away!" she barked.  
  
Xellos' smile only grew. "And where would you like me to go?"  
  
"Anywhere but here!"  
  
The priest reached out and grabbed her shoulders. They both suddenly disappeared and reappeared a few centimeters from where they had just been standing. "How about here? Is this better?"  
  
She growled and her knuckles began to turn white from where she was holding her mace. "Go back to where you were before this!" They were teleported back to where they had been standing only a few moments ago. "I mean before you came here!!" she roared.  
  
"Oh. Well, if you wanted to go home with me, you shou..."  
  
"NO!!!" she screeched as she leaped back. "I'm not going anywhere with you!" She swung her mace several times but missed him and managed not to damage the sop as well. "Hold still!"  
  
"Only if you do as well," he teased as he appeared behind the infuriated dragon. He took a deep whiff of her hair before teleporting to avoid another swipe of Filia's mace.  
  
"Pervert!!!" she cried.  
  
Lina came running out of the dressing room and stopped next to Amelia. "Oh, great, he's back," the sorceress grumbled.  
  
"Is this ALL we came back to do?" Xaina griped. Lina and Amelia glanced to the right and saw the child sitting in the air as if there was an invisible chair there. The girl had a rather cross look on her face. "There are more important things then annoying Filia."  
  
"Tell that to Xellos."  
  
"I'm trying," the girl insisted. "He's not listening. Why don't people listen to me?"  
  
Lina smiled and held out her arms to child. Xaina floated down and happily snuggled up to the sorceress. "Your little. Nobody listens to the little people until the little people cast dragon slaves. Trust me on this one." Xaina giggled which caused Lina and Amelia to giggle as well. "Dragon slaving them here might not be a good idea, though."  
  
"So then what do we do?" the child inquired.  
  
"We sing the "life is wonderful" song," Amelia chirped. Xaina tilted her head to one side and blinked her amethyst eyes curiously. The princess took a deep breath and began to sing in as loud as voice as she could manage, "Life is happy. Life is wonderful. I love life. You love life. Everyone loves life because life is happy happy happy." Xellos cringed and his face started to turn green. "Life is happy..."  
  
"Life is wonderful," Xaina joined in. "I love life. You love life. Everyone loves life because life is happy happy happy..."  
  
The trickster rounded on the singing girls and glared at them through his closed eyes. "Xaina! Stop singing! Your only helping them!"  
  
"I know," the girl replied with a delighted grin. "Life is happy. Life is wonderful."  
  
"Traitor," Xellos grumbled. He teleported to Lina, grabbed the girl, then teleported away.  
  
Everyone in the shop was still staring at the slayers women. Lina suddenly became very aware of those eyes and blushed a deep crimson. She quickly rushed over to pay for the pants and then dragged her companions out of there.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"You do not sing such demented songs!" Xellos scolded when the reappeared on Wolfpack Island in Xaina's room.  
  
"Why? They're fun." Xaina stated.  
  
"Because they are at a level of cruelty that even I would not touch with a ten foot poll."  
  
The girl scratched her head as her teacher dropped her on her bed. "But they're just happy songs."  
  
"They're bad songs for monsters. They hurt monsters," he explained.  
  
"But they didn't hurt me when I was singing them."  
  
He let out a deep sigh. "That's because you're a special monster." The child was about to offer another protest but Xellos cut in before she could. "They don't hurt you because of your human side, but they hurt everyone else. Don't do it, alright?"  
  
"But if they just hurt everyone else and not me, then why should I stop?" she asked with a devilish grin.  
  
Xellos gulped. He was beginning wish she was still afraid of him. 'I've really created a little beast now, haven't I? Perhaps it's time to STOP teaching her to be sneaky and mean.' "Uh, well... uhhhhh... you shouldn't because... ummm... because I told you so! And don't argue with me! I'll make you do more training with the master if you do!" Xaina moaned and pouted. "Good little obedient Xaina," he teased as he ruffled her black hair. She stuck out her tongue at him.  
  
__________________________________________________________  
  
Eh, sorry this chapter took so long to get done. Every one of my teachers is cramming as much as they possibly can in before finals and I haven't had much time for anything else. I have no idea when the next chapter will be done, but I guarantee it wont be until after finals.  
  
Mika-Mika Tou , thank you for the compliment. God, Zel is so hard to work with sometimes. Poor little angsty guy. I know I promised some z/a and l/g, but, well, it didn't come out that way. I will really try and have something in the next chapter, which may turn out kind of long with what I want to do with it. And I would never steal anyone's characters, Sarah_Seyruun_Greywords. I think stealing other's characters is wrong. Yours do sound quite cute, though.  
  
Alright, one last thing before I go. I had a friend read a little of this and she asked me why I thought Lina would not like her kid. At this point, it really does seem like Lina kind of hates her baby. Well, she does in a way. Lina has always struck me as someone who does things by her rules and her's alone. This child does not follow in to her whole scheme of things. It hasn't followed her rules. You upset Lina's balance of things, and well, you have trouble. Problem is, she can't really do a whole lot to pay this trouble back. I have read several fics where Lina is thrilled to have a child but I personally don't think she would be right away. No, this doesn't mean she'll hate this child forever; she really is just not happy now. I know she will have warmed up to it a it by the time it is born. Anyway, I thought I should explain why I have her thinking the way she currently is. I'll get back to my studies now and let the rest of you go back to your lives. 


	5. You can have this cute little girl

Xaina sighed as she looked at all the words in the book. She really needed to start learning to read better. She only knew her alphabet. Actually, she was pretty good at singing the alphabet. She had been learning to read, but her skills were still greatly lacking. Reading was hard. It took a lot of practice.  
  
"Yes, but how much," a low voice hissed. "Worthless book! Don't you have anything useful in you!?!"  
  
Curious, Xaina floated around the library and checked down each isle as she searched for the speaker. At last, she came to one corner in the back. Seated at a small table was a shadow type of monster draped in a shadow cloak that blended with his body. The glowing golden eyes glared at the object before him. Xaina recognized him right off: Wraithand. Truthfully, he kind of gave her the creeps. Murkivra had assured her that he was harmless, and Xellos insisted he was a wimp, but he still gave her the chills; and it wasn't just because his body was as cold as ice. Something about him reminded her of nightmares she use to have when she was a child.  
  
The monster flipped through his book and cursed at it several times. He seemed completely unaware of her presence. "Damn piece of worthless crap!" he snapped. "You either tell me what, how much, or where to find it but never all!" He snatched the book up and was about to throw it when he noticed the young monster peeking around the corner. His eyes suddenly softened and he hastily set the book down with a rather nervous giggle. "Ah, Xaina, eh he he, yes, what can I do for you child?"  
  
"Nothing," the girl squeaked. She was about to make a run for it but he suddenly teleported in front of her.  
  
"Is something the matter?" he inquired.  
  
"Oh... uh, no, I...I was just... looking... at books...not you!"  
  
Wraithand melded his form slightly so he looked more human, though he still remained more of a shadow then anything else. He held out his hands to her and his shadow lips formed in to a sort of smile. The girl hesitated at first, but then consented to let him hold her. A cold chill ran up her spine as his hands grabbed her. Her whole body suddenly felt like ice. "Want to see something wonderful?"  
  
"Uh, okay."  
  
Wraithand carried her gently over to the desk and sat her down on his lap so she could see the book. He kept one arm snaked around her back for support and used the other to prop up the book for her to see. On one of the pages was a fading picture of a staff. It looked sort of familiar, though she wasn't sure where she had seen it before. There were words scribbled all over the page but they were written all curvy and funny and she couldn't even guess what they said. "This is an amazing object. It gives a man the power of his enemies so he can conquer them." He flipped the page to show her a picture of a human standing on a hill holding the staff above his head. Lines had been drawn to show light bursting off of him. At the bottom were more humans falling and turning in to skeletons. "No one can control the one who wields it." He flipped past a few pages until he found another picture. This one had the same man being attacked by a dragon. On the next page the dragon was on the ground and looked dead. "Not even the mightiest of creatures can stop him."  
  
"An' you want that staff, right?" the girl questioned.  
  
For a moment, the monster seemed embarrassed and he was definitely flustered. A few moments passed in tense quiet before he relaxed and his soft smile returned. "Yes, I do. With it, we monsters could be on top again."  
  
"What's wrong with where we are?"  
  
"We're venerable right now," Wraithand explained. "Only three of the five lords have any experience and knowledge on how to run our people. One of them is quite insane as well. She has a habit of killing and eating her servants, you see..."  
  
"Dolphin."  
  
"Yes, Deep Seamaster. She does other things as well, but those aren't for a little one's ears. Perhaps when you're older. Now, some of the other creatures on this planet do not have this problem. They are now stronger then us. This puts us at risk. If we had this staff, no one would dare to harm us again."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Xaina slide off his lap and back on to the ground. "This is our little secret, all right?"  
  
"Ok."  
  
"Make sure you don't tell anyone."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well...I...I...don't want to get anyone's hopes up just yet. Run along now. I'm sure your teacher is looking for you."  
  
"Kay. Bye."  
  
"Bye now, child."  
  
Xaina zipped around the corner and gave a small shudder. Wraithand was always so cold... not in personality, though she had been told he could be emotionally cold, but rather physically. Touching him always felt like touching ice. The girl rubbed her hands over her arms and squirmed a little in the air as she attempted to get warmer.  
  
She dropped on to the ground and decided to walk the rest of the way out of the library. It had been a while since the half cat child had used her legs for more then standing and they really needed exercising. Xaina cautiously slipped out the main door and closed it quietly behind her.  
  
"Did you break something?" Xaina nearly leaped out of her skin as she yelped and whirled around to the source of the voice. Xellos, wearing his usual smug grin, peered down at her. The girl began to pant as her nervous caught up with her. "Well?"  
  
"Didn't I tell you not to sneak up on me?!" the young monster snapped.  
  
"Sneak up on you? I didn't sneak up on you. I was waiting here the whole time. It's not my fault if you didn't see me. Now answer the question: did you break something in there?"  
  
"No! Why would ya think I did?!"  
  
"Because you looked like you were trying to avoid being seen or heard."  
  
The girl sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "So? I don't like being heard. Some of the meaner monsters follow me when they know where I am."  
  
"Who's mean to you?" Xellos suddenly demanded. The smug look was gone and he looked slightly peeved by the notion of others picking on his student.  
  
"Uh...well, no one exactly, but they're all so creepy an' scary an'..." the child whimpered.  
  
"And you assumed they were mean," he finished. The trickster scooped her up in his arms and smiled again. Xaina snuggled in to his warm body. It was just what she needed after being held by Wraithand. "Trust me, Xaina, you have a lot more to fear from me then you ever would from them."  
  
"But your not scary."  
  
Xellos gently lifted her face up so he could look in to her eyes. "That's because you haven't seen me be scary yet. Now then, we have some people to catch up with. And this time I'm bringing a few toys with us."  
  
"Toys?"  
  
~*~*~  
  
Three, four, five. Good, all here, Amelia thought as she grabbed all the canteens to be filled up. She held them in her arms in a rather clumsy manner as she started to make her way towards the stream. One of them started to slip out of her grasp. The princess squeezed her arms around the bundle of canteens in an attempt to keep a hold of them. It slid out even more. She struggled to hold on tighter. It was no use. The flask was determined to escape. It dropped out of her grasp and hit the ground with a soft thud.  
  
Slowly and carefully, the black haired girl reached down to grab it. A second hand wearing a beige glove with the blue finger tips sticking out reached down at the same time, and their hands brushed against each other. Amelia jerked her hand back and blushed a deep crimson. She stood up very straight and tried to look away.  
  
Zelgadiss picked up the canteen. He held it out to her as he blushed a very similar color. The chimera gave a light cough in embarrassment. "You, uh, dropped this."  
  
"Thank you," she replied rather sheepishly. She reached out to take it and dropped another canteen.  
  
The chimera grabbed that one as well. "Would you like some help?" he offered as his blush grew. If it got any brighter, he was sure he would start glowing.  
  
"Y-yes, thank you... again."  
  
He gave a slight nod and they both walked down to the stream. They remained quiet, both too embarrassed to say anything. Amelia dipped the first canteen in the water and watched the bubbles rise to the surface as the air inside was replaced with water. She jammed the top back on and handed Zel the full bottle. As he grabbed it, their hands brushed again. For a moment, Amelia's mind raced back to the moment he had kissed her the second time just around the corner from her room. The way the moonlight had played across his face had made him look so... so... beautiful. She knew you weren't suppose to calls boys beautiful, but she couldn't think of and other word for it. His hands had felt so protective and safe. For just one brief second, she had been sure time had stopped just for them.  
  
As her mind suddenly caught back up with the present, the princess realized that their hands were still touching. Her face flushed a second time as she jerked her hand back and turned away. "I-I'm sorry," she stuttered out.  
  
"Well, I, uh... ... uh, don't be sorry," Zel whimpered. Like her, he was blushing again and had turned away. The chimera glanced back over his shoulder. She was still crouched down. By Ceiphried, what are we so embarrassed about. We're friends, he tried to assure himself. That's right, you have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to be embarrassed about, his sarcastic conscious teased. All you did was kiss her...twice. "Amelia, I...I've been meaning to talk..."  
  
A high pitched squeal interrupted the chimera. Zel and Amelia abandoned the canteens and ran straight back to the camp where someone was still screaming. "That sounds like Ms. Filia," Amelia said as they ran. Just as they came charging back in to the camp, they saw the blonde woman leap behind Lina and try to hide. Gourry had his sword already out and Lina had powered up a spell.  
  
"What's going on?" Zel demanded as he pulled his sword out.  
  
Filia pointed a shaking finger at the bushes she had just come running from. Lina and Amelia prepared spells while Gourry and Zel were ready with their swords. The bushes rustled slightly. Everyone tensed up. A small wooden doll suddenly hopped out from the underbrush. Everyone except Filia face faulted.  
  
"THAT is what you were so scared of?!" Lina snapped as she picked herself up. "It's..." The bushes rustled again. Another doll hopped out. A third one quickly followed it. Then a fourth. A fifth popped out but this one was missing a head. Several more popped out, each missing a limb or two. These dolls looked slightly familiar for some reason. "What the...?" Four dozen more dolls suddenly popped out. These ones were all carrying pebbles. Six small catapults were pushed out form the bushes, each one loaded with small rocks. "This is some sort of joke, right?"  
  
Before the sorceress could get an answer, the bushes behind them rustled. A strange collection of patched up stuffed toys leaped out. Most of them had been repaired several times but none of them looked old. Each little animal carried a stick.  
  
"Where did they all come from?" Amelia inquired.  
  
"I have a better question: why are the moving on their own?" Lina grunted.  
  
Without warning, the toys suddenly charged. The slayers yelped and jumped out of the way. The toys bounded in to each other and started attempting to beat the each other senseless. It was the dolls against the stuffed animals in one of the more bizarre fights the slayers had ever seen. For lack of anything better to do, they stared at the small, and slightly disturbing, battle.  
  
"Co'mon, you can do it! You can do it!" Xaina cheered. The group glanced up and saw the neko girl and Xellos floating above them.  
  
"Your guys never win," the trickster sighed. "You should just give up before they all break again."  
  
"They will win this time!" the girl argued.  
  
"Yes, yes, keep telling yourself that Xaina; maybe someday it will be true."  
  
Zelgadiss let out a disgruntled sigh. "Figures. Only Xellos would be weird enough to come up with something like this with such demented toys."  
  
"Actually they're mine," the little monster chirped. "We play lots of war games so they get broken all the time. Murkivra patches 'um up for me and we glue all the dolls back together when we're done."  
  
"We loved Val's dolls so much, we just had to get our own," Xellos added with a smile.  
  
"No wonder they look familiar," Lina stated. "Um, are they almost done?"  
  
They glanced at the toys. The fight was slowly dwindling down to nothing and broken toys lay everywhere. After a few moments, the last stuffed toy fell. Bits of cotton stuck out of its chest. Cotton and pieces of wood were scattered all over the little battlefield. Though it wasn't exactly gross, it was a bit creepy.  
  
Xaina suddenly slumped. "Awwwwwe, they lost!"  
  
"Of course they did," Xellos said with a triumphant smile. "I always win. Ah ha ha ha ha!"  
  
The slayers glared at him. "Congratulations, Xellos, you beat a four year old," the red head snorted sarcastically.  
  
"It's not fair! I wanna win! Just once!" the girl cried. "You're mean, Xellos!"  
  
He flicked his wrist and suddenly all the toys were gone. "Of course I'm mean. I thought you knew that already. If I do recall correctly, you have reminded me of that several times before." The girl turned her back to him and folded her arms over her chest. Her eyes closed and her nose turned up in the air. "Of course, I'd rather be mean then a spoiled brat with a tail."  
  
The fur on the girl's wings and tail suddenly puffed. "I am not...!" she started to yell. Before she could finish her sentence, Xellos grabbed her and teleported. They appeared right in front of Filia. The girl was dumped in to the dragon's arms and Xellos teleported again. This time he appeared right behind Filia. Xaina picked up the blonde woman's scent and almost instantly started to feel dizzy. She tried to force herself away only to find Xellos had grabbed her tail and was forcing her to stay.  
  
It took several seconds for the dragon woman to register in her mind that Xellos had his arms around her shoulders. A few more seconds passed before her mind suddenly remembered that he was a monster. Monster's were bad. She was in heat. That made him worse then usual. She let out a high pitched squeal and yanked free from his grasp. Filia jumped behind Amelia in an attempt to get as far away from him as possible.  
  
"Keep him away! Keep him away!" the terrified dragon cried.  
  
Xellos followed with a rather giddy smile. In one hand he still grasped his charge's tail. The girl was biting him furiously, but he wouldn't loosen his hold. "Amelia, would you please move," the trickster asked politely.  
  
The princess glanced at the shivering woman behind her and then back at the trickster and hesitated. "I... I... I can't, Mr. Xellos. I don't know what you'll do to Miss Filia, so in the name of justice, I have to protect her."  
  
"I'll give you this really cute child if you step aside." He held up the still squirming Xaina. "She doesn't eat much and can live in just rags if you want. She's not much trouble at all. All you have to do to get her is let me have Filia." The neko child sunk her teeth as deep in to the monster's fake flesh as possible and then tried to rip it apart. Xellos didn't even flinch. "See, absolutely perfectly behaved."  
  
Amelia blinked several times in confusion. "Uh..."  
  
"Please don't let him near me, Miss Amelia," Filia pleaded. "I'll do anything you ask. Just name it. Just please, please, please, keep him away."  
  
"It'll only be for a few minutes."  
  
"I'll give you a discount at my store."  
  
"Very cute little girl."  
  
"Free, free! You can have anything for free!"  
  
"You could train her to fight for justice with you."  
  
"I'll give you the store! Just keep him away!"  
  
"I promise not to hurt her."  
  
"If you dare move, Miss Amelia, I'll personally introduce you to my mace!"  
  
"Let go of my tail!!!!!" Xaina screeched as tears were forming in her eyes. Xellos glanced down, and sure enough, he did still have a firm hold on the child's tail. He had kind of forgotten about her. The girl promptly broke in to loud wails.  
  
He reached out his power, trying to sense what she was feeling so he could calm her down. It took a moment since sensing her emotions had started to become harder and harder as her powers grew stronger. He could feel something from her, but it wasn't pain. In fact, it didn't seem negative at all. Before he could actually pinpoint what Xaina was feeling, a finger gruffly tapped his shoulder. A sword blade came to rest on his other shoulder. He didn't have to look to know who it was. The priest teleported out of the way, leaving Xaina behind. When he reappeared on a tree branch as far away from the girl as he could go, he saw the girl was being cradled in Lina's arms and her wails had turned to small sniffles.  
  
"It's not...broken...is it?" the girl hiccuped.  
  
"Can you still move it?" Lina asked in a soft, soothing voice.  
  
"Yeah...I think so." The girl wagged her tail tentatively.  
  
Gourry smiled and gave the girl a gentle pat on the head. "See, not broken. You're all right, Xaina," the blond man assured her.  
  
'Interesting,' Xellos thought to himself, 'She certainly is not in any pain. She is not upset at all. In fact, she even seems kind of happy... no, proud, she's definitely proud. Did she just...? Why that little sneaking feline! She just tricked everyone and manipulated them in to doing what she wanted! She manipulated them! She manipulated me! She copied my ability to control people! She does listen to me! I'm so proud!'  
  
~*~*~  
  
She wasn't sure what pulled her out of her sleep. It was still dark and she was awake, though not overly so. The fire still crackled near by. She could hear it, but she couldn't see the flames. It should have been in front of her, but for some reason it wasn't. She rubbed her eyes and tried to clear her fuzzy mind. Something was in front of her...something blue.  
  
Amelia sat up and tried to clear her eyes even more. 'Is that Mr. Zelgadiss?' she wondered as she made out the distinct face of a chimera man. She looked him over carefully and quickly noticed he wasn't wearing any clothes. A bright blush crept across her face and she looked away. 'What is Mr. Zelgadiss doing? He's suppose to be on watch.' She glanced back down at his face, trying to find some sort of answer there. As she examined his features a little more she noticed his hair seemed to be darker. At first, she thought it must have just been the light, but then she noticed the pebbles on his face were in different places. Now that she thought about it, he did seem younger and maybe a little thinner.  
  
'... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...That's not Mr. Zelgadiss!!!!!' the princess' mind suddenly screamed at her. As the thought passed through the rest of her body, Amelia leaped back and let out a high pitched scream.  
  
__________________________________________________________  
  
Finals are over! Jump and cheer! I don't like finals. They're evil and take up all my time. But, they're done for another semester. Yes, I know it's a little mean to end the chapter here, but it was starting to get really long so I'm breaking it in to two chapters. (You all will just have to wait for the next one.) Oh, and if anyone was curious, if you have read all my fics up until now, it comes to a total of 228 pages. That's more then my novel currently is. Of course, I'm still editing and it's only the first of several books...  
  
Anyway, I'm getting off the slayers topic. Well, I'm going to be starting up a small slayers site soon with all my fan fics on it. I'm looking for a picture with all the slayers characters on it. If anyone knows where I can find one, feel free to point me in the right direction. Also, I drew this really cool picture of all the new good (or sorta good) guys in my fic. I'm going to color it with photoshop, soon as I figure out how everything works. (hint hint, anyone who can point me in the right direction) However, I'm feeling rather proud of my art, even if it's not all that good, but it is the best I have ever done, so I'm going to show it off a little. This is just the scanned line drawing and it still needs a lot of cleaning up, but you can take a look at http://www.geocities.com/dagteal/slayers/slayers.gif. I warn you, though, it's a little big. I need to shrink it as well as trim the lines before I color it.  
  
Now, if you're curious who they all are, well, I'll name them for you. At the very bottom of the picture, kind of in the middle, is Xaina (all grown up). She's making a little stuffed animal dance or float or something. To the left of her is Dusty, who passed Lina impersination 101 with flying colors. Behind Dusty is Kendra and Duorue, also known as Outcast and Dragon while in bird form. Kendra's standing on a box, if you couldn't tell. Kind of in the very back on the left is Lairue. I don't know how much she'll be in it yet, but I know she's important. To the right of Dusty is Posmose. I'm not sure what he's staring at, but I had to have at least one more character looking to the left (well, his right, but our left). And last, but not least, the girl kneeling with the staff is Trinity. Again, not sure how much she'll be in it, but she'll be there and she's important.  
  
Well, I've babbled on enough. Happy New Year to everyone. Hope 2003 is a lot better then 2002 was. 


	6. Four Birds, Four Lives

Amelia screeched. The strange chimera jolted awake and leaped back. He tried to grab for a sword at his waist only to find he was completely naked. Lina, Gourry, and Filia were also startled awake along with three other naked people. Lina screamed and scooted away from the dark skinned man with ample amounts of exposed flesh right in front of her while Gourry grabbed his sword. Filia grabbed her cape and threw it over the naked blonde child next to her, then grabbed little Xaina and covered the neko monster's eyes. The dark skinned man lunged for the new chimera. The chimera yelped and dashed behind Amelia. The tall attacker tried to grab for him around the princess but the chimera kept her between them. Amelia covered her eyes and let out another scream. And all of this happened in less then ten seconds.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Five minutes. That is exactly how long he had been gone. He had just left the camp for a moment so he could use one of the bushes and of course, something had to happen on HIS watch. Zelgadiss cursed his rotten luck. It was bad enough Xellos had followed him for who knows what reason. (The trickster had been smelling Filia ever since she had dozed off to sleep and was acting odd... more then normal, anyway.) He really didn't need to be fighting off any bandits or demons or monsters in the middle of the night. The chimera swore to make them pay for this.  
  
When Zel came bursting back in to the camp, he had been expecting some sort of crazed werewolf or monster to be attacking the group. Bandits had also been on his list of things attacking them given Lina's reputation. Hell, he would have thought of fishmen before this: four naked people in their camp. Four STRANGE naked people. Two were sitting by the fire along with Lina, Gourry, Filia, and Xaina. Filia was looking back and forth between a young Xaina with the dragon woman's hand clamped over her eyes and an older Xaina who had her wings wrapped around her body. Two naked men, one he recognized as Dragon, were having a fight with Amelia between them. Amelia, for her part didn't seem to know what to do and had covered her eyes with her hands.  
  
Zelgadiss yanked out his sword and charged for the men around Amelia. "Get away from her!!" the chimera screamed. The new chimera yelped, leaped out of the way, and dove behind a rock. Dragon whipped around just as Zelgadiss was about to strike him with his sword and snapped his hands over the blade, stopping it cold. Zel jerked back and pulled the blade away, cutting Dragon's hands in the process.  
  
The dark skinned man glanced down at his bloody hands when Zel backed off slightly. "Well, that wasn't very nice," Dragon commented. Zelgadiss looked the man up and down slightly and then looked away. "Could you please cover yourself?"  
  
A smug smile formed on Dragon's lips. "What? Is the little man embarrassed?"  
  
"No, but it would be nice if you weren't running around naked in front of little children," Filia growled. He glanced over his shoulder and just smiled. Little Xaina tried to move out of Filia's grasp but to no avail. She felt a poke in her side and tried to look at the poker but couldn't see through the hand.  
  
"I thought I told you to watch the camp for a few minutes," Xellos whispered.  
  
"I did watch," the child protested. "I watched everyone sleep. I watched the birds start to glow when the moon was coming up. I watched them transform. I watched Amelia wake up, and I watched her scream and everyone wake up. Then Filia covered my eyes so I can't watch anymore." Xellos suddenly realized he was between two Xaina and did a double take. How had she done this? A second later, a pair of arms had latched on to his waist. He glanced down at the blonde haired child wearing Filia's cape, who had leaped over Filia to get to him. The trickster gaged as she nuzzled lovingly in to his side. One glance at her aura told him this was the same dragon girl that had grabbed him before.  
  
Big Xaina leaned over him to speak with still stunned dragon woman. "Filia, she's already had theuncensored version of the birds and the bees explained to her... from Xellos... nothing she sees here can corrupt her further. Trust me on this."  
  
"I'd gladly cover myself if you'd toss a blanket, sir," the chimera behind the rock called.  
  
"Oh, is the little butcher pretending to be polite?" Dragon jeered. "Trying to win your way in to their hearts? Ain't gonna work, my friend." The dragon man hopped to his feet. "I'm gonna kill ya before you can get that blanket... again, anyway."  
  
"We're all dead," Big Xaina explained.  
  
Dragon leaped for the younger chimera. Said chimera bolted out of the way while Dragon crashed in to the rock, smashing it. The chimera ducked behind a tree in a pathetic attempt to to hide. Dragon ambled to his feet and sauntered towards the tree confidently.  
  
"It was all so tragic," the cat monster continued lamely.  
  
"When I'm done with ya, princey, you'll be nothing but a bloody heap on the ground!" The tall man jumped behind the tree just as the chimera came bounding out.  
  
"We just cried and cried when we were murdered... well, sorta cried. We were dead so crying wasn't really an option... but we did the equivalence to that," the older black haired monster pressed on.  
  
The chimera jolted back to the still half panicked princess and cowered behind her. "I'm gonna do to you exactly what ya did to all those poor people!"  
  
"What did you do to make him so angry?" Zel inquired.  
  
"It was just one little act of cannibalism while I..."  
  
"Cannibalism!" Amelia screeched. A second later, her fist made contact with the young man's face and sent him flying a few feet away. Then she grabbed her hand and whimpered. It hurt just as much as punching Zelgadiss.  
  
"Little act! There's no such thing as a little act of cannibalism!" Dragon continued to roar.  
  
"It wasn't a fair death really. We didn't ask for it... and we weren't really much of a match for him," Xaina rattled on.  
  
Dragon cracked his knuckles and smiled maliciously as he approached his prey. "Then I'm gonna do to ya exactly what ya did to Dusty."  
  
"Wait, wait, can't we talk about this?" the chimera pleaded.  
  
"Nope."  
  
"It's not as bad as what he did to Dusty, though," the grown up cat girl stated.  
  
"Oh, what'd he do?" Xellos inquired.  
  
"That depends."  
  
"Depends on what?"  
  
"What do I get if I tell you?" she inquired with a familiar smug, closed eyed expression.  
  
"What do you get?" the trickster inquired in disbelief.  
  
"What do I get?"  
  
"Uh... birdseed?"  
  
She gave a disgruntled sigh. "I don't like birdseed, ya know."  
  
"Um, well... why do you need something?"  
  
"Because, I am a monster."  
  
"But so am I."  
  
"Exactly. That's why I'm trying to cheat you. You don't work for me so I'm suppose to get everything out of you that I possibly can. That's what you taught me, isn't it?" Xellos shot her a bitter glare while Big Xaina smiled in triumph.  
  
"Xaina! Help!" the chimera shouted as Dragon grabbed one of his ankles. "Help what?" Little Xaina asked. "Who'er you anyway? Do I know you?" Big Xaina rolled her eyes. "Hey, Duorue! Quick! Look! There's a handsome, naked blond guy! And he's gay!"  
  
"That's nice," Dragon responded without bothering to look away from his prey.  
  
A worried look passed across the older Xaina's face and she glanced over at Kendra. "Duorue's not interested in a handsome guy? This is serious. He must be really mad tonight. Posmose might just be doomed. ... ... Maybe not..." She reached over and rubbed a hand affectionately over the dragon child's head. "Kendra, sweet, please forgive me. I love you very much, baby doll, and I would never harm you if I didn't have to. Don't be angry with me. Promise you wont be mad?"  
  
"Uh... okay," the blonde child replied in confusion.  
  
A long set of claws appeared on the finger's of one of Big Xaina's hands. She moved that hand over the girl's golden tail. Her hand smashed down and the claws went right in to the dragon's flesh. Kendra let out a deafening screech and clutched Xellos harder.  
  
"Xaina!" Filia scolded.  
  
"What!?! What'd I do!?!" Little Xaina cried.  
  
"Hey, hey, relax," Big Xaina explained nervously, "Just give it a second. I didn't hurt her that bad."  
  
"AHHH! What'd ya do to her, ya filthy monsters!?!" Duorue snapped. Posmose let out a sigh and flopped limply on the ground as his attacker abandoned him and ran over to protect Kendra. The dark skinned man slid on to his knees and tried to yank the girl away from Xellos only to find she was pretty securely attached. He tried again but the sobbing child would not release her hold on the trickster.  
  
"I really would appreciate it if you could get this thing off of me," Xellos stated as he pointed to the young blonde.  
  
"What do ya think I'm trying to do!?!" Big Xaina sighed and laid on her back. "Doesn't matter if ya do or don't. Dawn'll be here in another minute or so."  
  
"Ah, but we just got up," Posmose whinnied. The neko monster shrugged. "This stinks."  
  
"Life stinks... death stinks too... so do rotten fish..."  
  
"Ah, gee, Xaina, much as we love your random babblings, could ya keep 'um to yourself for once," Duorue stated coldly.  
  
The young woman brushed off his comment and relaxed. A moment later, she sat straight up and smiled in a fashion far too similar to Xellos' for anyone's liking. "Say, Lina, could you do me a favor? I have these little crystals..." she snapped her fingers and three small stones appeared in the still very confused red head's hands, "...and I'd really appreciate it if you could hold on to them for me. Just for a little while. They're special and stuff, ya know. All ya need to do is make sure Destiny doesn't get them... or even know you have them, actually."  
  
Lina stared at the small crystals for a moment and blinked. "Um... alright."  
  
"How the hell d'ya get those!?!" Duorue demanded.  
  
"I stole them, of course."  
  
"How?"  
  
"That is a secret."  
  
"You're stealing my material," Xellos grumbled.  
  
"Yes, but see, your dead so I didn't think you'd care. In fact, you should feel honored; I'm keeping alive your words long after you're gone. People will remember you forever through your words."  
  
"They'll remember you saying it."  
  
"Details details." She waved one hand at him as if brushing away his concerns. "They're not important. You're dead anyway..."  
  
"I am very much alive," Xellos protested.  
  
"Yeah, sure, now," Posmose broke in. "Give it a couple of years and you can kiss your staff good-bye."  
  
As the sun started to creep over the horizon, light surrounded each of the naked people. Bits floated off them and collected just above them. Kendra released her hold on Xellos and stared at her hands as they turned to golden light and faded in to nothing. Posmose let out a defeated sigh while turquoise light pulled away from his being. Duorue gave Kendra a gentle pat in an attempt to reassure her that everything was alright while black light left his body.  
  
Xaina smirked at Lina with her eyes closed, looking as if nothing were wrong while white light drifted off her tail and legs making them fade away. "Destiny will be back in an hour or so. Don't turn your back on him. The monstrosity will help you only so long as he can't get his grubby hands on that child. After that, well, don't count us as friends." Her whole body was nearly gone. She opened her eyes and gave the sorceress a compassionate, real smile this time. "Use the crystals. They were made to help."  
  
"Help... but how..." Lina's words were cut off as bright light flashed in everyone's eyes. When the light was gone and their eyes had adjusted, the four people were gone and the birds had taken their places. The red head looked back at the stones that rested in her palm. "Use the crystals?" Silence had settled over the group. There were no words that to either answer Lina's question or explain what had just occurred.  
  
"AHHHHH! Get off me you creep!" Filia screeched.  
  
Xellos gave a slight pout while still keeping his arms tightly wrapped around the dragon woman. "But I'm scared," he mock whined.  
  
"I don't care! Keep off me!" Everyone else face faulted, except Little Xaina who looked just plain confused.  
  
"What happened?" the child inquired. "I couldn't see anything. I don't know what happened. Someone tell me."  
  
"Soon as we figure out, Xain, you'll be the first to know," Lina assured her.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ______  
  
Ah, so sorry this took so long. (get's down one hands and knees and bows to all loyal readers) I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was with relatives for a long time and had no access to my writings. Plenty of video games, but no writing.  
  
Oh, and a big thanks to Erin Mcateer who read my way to long notes last time and e-mailed me a picture I could use on my site that has all the slayers main characters. (gives big hug) Thank you so much. It is greatly appreciated and will be used on my web site when I find the time to get back to working on that page again. Hopefully I will have some of it up and running by the end of the next month.  
  
Well, I'm off to write another chapter. I'm hoping the get the dragon's peak by the end of it, but I guess we'll see. One question before I go though, does anyone know what color Gaav and Dynast's eyes are? I can't find that info, though I think Gaav's are black (but the pictures I'm basing this off of are not very good or close up). Anyway, 100 points to anyone who can tell me one and a 1000 to anyone who can tell me both. 


	7. Contemplations

Lina poked the crystals that glittered in the morning sun light. She grabbed the blue one, held it up between her pointer finger and thumb, and marveled as light caught inside making it appear to glowing a soft sapphire. She glanced down at the other two: one was an ivory white and the other a rich violet. "And what exactly are we suppose to do with these?" The sorceress grunted.  
  
Amelia had scooted over and peered over Lina's shoulder. "I don't know, but the white one is really pretty." She grabbed the little crystal and admired it as light bounced inside it. "It's white, like everything good and beautiful and just in the world!" the princess proclaimed. Lina and Zelgadiss stared at her lamely. Gourry and Xaina, on the other hand, were too absorbed in the fight waging between Filia and Xellos to notice the shrine maiden.  
  
Try as she may, Filia could not break out of the trickster's grasp. Xellos had somehow gotten the perfect hold on her with her arms held up and her mace out of reach. He was behind her with his nose pressed in to her hair so she couldn't even kick him. This was so humiliating! If only she could get her mace...  
  
"Let go of me!!" the dragon wailed.  
  
Sniff. "I'm not goin' to hurt you." Sniff. "You smell sooo good." Sniff. "Have I ever told you yer my favorite?" Sniff sniff. "You really are, Fi'ia."  
  
"Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! Miss Linaaa!!"  
  
The sorceress waved a dismissive hand at the former priestess. "In a minute. I busy."  
  
Xellos smirked and rested his chin on Filia's shoulder. "Take yer time. Take yer time. There's no rush here."  
  
Magic was brimming off the crystals. Lina could feel that much in her hand. This wasn't little magic either. The fact that she could feel the magic in them meant it had to be pretty powerful. Funny how something that was just a little bigger then her thumb nail could hold so much energy. Of course this knowledge did not help them since they had no idea what the crystals were for or how to use them. 'Damn it! Why wasn't Xai... Big Xaina more helpful?! She could have at least told us how to use them!' the red head mentally grumbled.  
  
"Forget a few years!" Filia barked. "The second I get free, I'M sending you to the afterlife!"  
  
The trickster moved one hand up so he could give her a pat on the head. His other arm, however, still held her too tight to allow her to grab her mace... or anything else that could be used as a weapon. "Such a good little dragon. I had a pet dragon once, but he stopped moving a few weeks after I got him. I miss him."  
  
Anger was suddenly replaced by panic and the blonde woman's eyes bugged out. "Miss Liiinnnnaaaa!!!"  
  
"I said in a minute," the sorceress snorted.  
  
"But Miss Lina..."  
  
"My dragon didn't have a tai', though. I like yer tai', Fi'ia."  
  
A large blush covered Filia's face as she realized her tail was sticking out... between his legs... twitching from her fury "ANYONE, PLEASE HELP!!!!!"  
  
Lina finally whirled around and glared at them. "Xellos, let her go! Filia let him... ... ... smell you! Now!"  
  
Xellos pouted. "But, but, but..."  
  
"But nothing! Now!"  
  
"Alright," the trickster priest whimpered and released his prey.  
  
Filia didn't waste a second in grabbing her mace and beating Xellos several times with it. Surprisingly, the monster didn't even try to dodge; he just smiled blissful as each blow pounded him in to the ground. "And stay there!" the dragon woman roared.  
  
Xaina floated over to her teacher and gave him a soft pat on the head. "Maybe we should go back to the island for a while." She grabbed a chunk of his hair and they teleported away.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Xellos wobbled slightly as he appeared before his master. He quickly dropped to one knee more out of need to keep stable then to show her respect. Xaina was with him, but she stood several feet away from him. Filia's scent was still all over him. Murkivra said he reeked of it and sprayed him with some of her perfume in an attempt to cover it. Sadly, that only made it more pungent and he had hastily bathed afterwords. It didn't do him much good, though. The scent still persisted.  
  
The neko child eyed her teacher warily. Xaina herself did not bow as he did since the last time she had, she had been scolded. She was not suppose to bow to anyone who was her equal or less, as Xellos claimed, and supposedly she was on the same level as Beastmaster. She, of course, was still trying to figure out why she and Master Zelas were equal. Xaina could barely preform the same tricks as the low level servants; how could she be equal to the master of beasts? Beastmaster waved her hand in a silent gesture for Xellos to stand... well, relatively silent since her mental bracelets tinked as they hit each other when the woman's arms moved. Xaina let out a disgruntled sigh as Xellos wobbled as he stood and leaned on his staff.  
  
Zelas frowned in concern. Her servant wasn't acting normal. Had he not been a monster, she would have thought him to be drunk. Her eyes flickered to Xaina for a moment in the hopes of getting some sort of idea but found none. The child seemed just as concerned as she was. "Xellos, is there something you wish to report to me?" the blonde lord inquired.  
  
The trickster nodded and nearly fell forward. 'Damn it,' he mentally cursed, 'you smelled to much!' There was a long pause with nothing said and all eyes focused on Xellos.  
  
"And?" Zelas finally prompted.  
  
"Aaaannnnnnnddd..." He dragged out the word in order to give him a little time to think of what exactly he was going to say. "Things are not going exactly as... as... as... planned! Yes, planned. The group has changed their... uh... um... co... cor... course!"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Well?" Zelas demanded impatiently.  
  
"... I... we uh..."  
  
Xaina sighed again and folded her arms together over her chest. "Because Filia's hot," the child supplied.  
  
Her answer earned her a questioning look for Beastmaster. "Filia's hot? Filia, the annoying little golden dragon, Filia? The Filia Xellos usually gets his daily meals from? The dragon woman who owns the tea shop? She's hot?" Xaina nodded proudly. Usually she just stood around and listened in these meetings. Today, she was helping and that gave her a small bit of pride. Zelas glanced back and forth between her servant and the partial cat child, trying to understand exactly what was going on. It was obvious she was missing something very important. "And what does that mean?" she asked carefully though she was almost certain she wouldn't like the answer.  
  
"That Filia's hot."  
  
"What do you mean by that?"  
  
"That Filia's hot."  
  
"I see," the blonde replied as she saw that this approach was not going to work. "Fair enough. What does Filia being hot have to do with Lina Inverse... or should I be calling her Lina Gabrieve now? I can never keep up with the other species' name thing... Anyway, what does Filia being hot have to do with Lina and her companions changing course?"  
  
"They have to go somewhere so Filia can give Val little brothers and sisters and no longer be hot."  
  
Now Zelas was confused. 'What the hell is she talking about? What does being hot have to do with having children...?' A light suddenly went off in the back of her mind. 'It could be that...' "Xaina, come here." The child hesitated for a moment but then floated over to Beastmaster. The monster lord took hold of the girl, reached out with her power, and instantly sensed all the pheromones on the child seeping in to the woman's system. "My my child, it seems you've been playing with a dragon in heat."  
  
"That's what I said: Filia's hot."  
  
"So you did, so you did," Zelas agreed. "It has certainly made you smell quite interesting."  
  
"If you think I smell funny, you should smell Xellos." The trickster raised one hand and twiddled his fingers in a pathetic wave while smiling sheepishly. "He's been stuck so close to Filia so much, he smells just like her."  
  
"Is that so." The beast master reached to the side of her throne and rang a little golden bell. A few moments later, Murkivra came in and bowed before her master. "Take Xaina and play with her, feed her, bathe her, or something that'll keep her occupied for a few hours." Xaina pouted as she was spoken of in the third person despite her presence. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, as far as she was concerned. "I wish to speak to Xellos alone and I don't want her or anyone else interrupting us. Make sure no one disturbs us unless Shabernigdo himself has been reborn."  
  
Murkivra bowed again and took the child being held out to her. "Yes master." With that, the low level servant and Xaina teleported out of the room.  
  
When they were gone, Zelas looked back at her priest with a mischievous grin. "Why Xellos, you should have told me sooner that your little pet was in heat." Xellos gulped as the foreboding sense that something very bad was going to happen to him soon crept through his body.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Perfume from summer flowers filled the air as the slayers and Destiny walked along. When exactly Destiny had returned or when she had fallen in step with them was not clear. All any of them knew was one minute she wasn't with them, the next she was. She was still just as creepy as ever and none of them dared ask about what had happened. They had already seen small demonstrations of Destiny's power, and none of them were interested in seeing all of it, especially when their best magic user didn't exactly have any real control on how her magic behaved at the moment.  
  
Several days had passed since the birds had become people and none of them were any closer to figuring it all out exactly. Zelgadiss, of course, explained to them that he was sure that the two men he had tried to chase down in Saillune were Posmose and Duorue. But why had they changed then? What was so special about each of those nights that had made them change? It was obviously not Destiny's doing. She had only changed them to people when the slayers had been in danger and even then, she had only changed two of them (the second only because the first had proven too terrified to do anything other than hide). They were all desperate for answers but none were coming. Between learning she was pregnant, knowing her kid was going to bring about the end of the world, meeting Destiny, having four birds who are actually people that are dead (according to the older Xaina), and on top of all that, were quite possibly from the future, Lina was frustrated. All of this was making her head hurt. She was ready for a break from the weirdness and confusion.  
  
Filia let out a high pitched screech. Nope, a break wasn't coming anytime soon. "How dare you show your miserable face here again, nomagomi!"  
  
That's right, not a single break in sight.  
  
"Oh, you mean you missed me?" Xellos teased.  
  
"Die you creep!" There was a loud crack as Filia's mace swiped through the trunk of a rather large tree. Several moments later, the tree came crashing down with enough force to shake the earth.  
  
Nope. No breaks from the weirdness and random dragon caused destruction today.  
  
"My, my, Filia, you're so violent, even for a dragon." Swipe. Filia successfully made a large crater in the ground... swipe... make that two craters... smash... and another tree.  
  
"And everyone is concerned about me having a child," the red head grumbled.  
  
"What was that, Miss Lina?" Amelia inquired as she surveyed the damage now being done to the helpless forest.  
  
Lina folded her arms together and glared at the carnage taking place behind them. "Alright, Filia and Xellos cause some of the greatest amount of destruction, right?"  
  
"Right."  
  
"And they can both be extremely dangerous, right?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"They can also be quite self centered too, correct?"  
  
"Sometimes, yes."  
  
"And yet we give them children thinking it's perfectly alright and these children are going to turn out perfectly normal?"  
  
"Uh..."  
  
"Not even I cause this much destruction on a day to day bases! Yet everyone is certain I'm the last person who should be given a child! I'm responsible! I don't go around smashing trees! I'm not mean or scary most of the time! But everyone is afraid of me having a child!!"  
  
Amelia took a few steps away from Lina, fearing the red head's temper. Xaina, however, had no such fear and floated right over to the sorceress and sat on her shoulders. "I'm not afraid of you having a child, Lina," the neko child smiled.  
  
"Your the only one," Lina sighed. "Your the only one who likes me too."  
  
"I like you," Gourry broke in.  
  
The petite woman glared at him. "Of course you do, jellyfish! You have to! You don't get a choice!" She turned her gaze back to the rampaging dragon in human form and monster. "Good gods, do they ever stop?"  
  
"It's love," Xaina chirped. "Of course not."  
  
Everyone stared at the child in confusion. "If that's love, I don't ever want to see hate between them. There might not be anything left of the planet when their done fighting."  
  
Xaina gave the sorceress a gentle pat on the head. "Murkivra says it's hate too, so we get to see both at once."  
  
"Lucky us," Lina grunted sarcastically. "Hey, people, are we just gonna stand here all day or are we going to get get moving!" She didn't wait for a reply and started tromping along the path again with Xaina still on her shoulders. Gourry hastily ran after her with Destiny walking calmly behind.  
  
Zelgadiss and Amelia exchanged curious glances. "Mood swing?" the princess inquired.  
  
"Mood swing," the chimera agreed. His demonic eyes glanced back at Filia. "And we may have two of them doing that very soon."  
  
"I'm not sure I could take another one."  
  
"You're not the only one."  
  
"Should we be worried."  
  
"Yes."  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ______  
  
*Tealya comes out dragging Writer's Block behind her. She throws him on the ground, grabs Filia's mace out of nowhere, and proceeds to beat Writer's Block while crying out several non-repeatable obscenities in a PG-13 fic. Writer's Block tried to crawl away but fails and is beaten in to a bloody pulp. Tealya pants for a few moments and glares at Writer's Block as she calms down.* And don't come back!!! I'll do it again if you do!!!  
  
I hate writer's block. I hate writer's block. I hate writers block. If anyone else hates it, feel free to give it the same treatment. I have not been able to write or edit anything for two weeks! Two freakin' weeks!! *growl, grumble, groan* Absolutely nothing! That's what I did for the past two weeks! Aside from school, anyway.  
  
Okay, I've ranted a little. I feel better. Hopefully the next chapter will come in a more timely manner. And the next chapter they will be reaching dragon's peak! I will make them reach dragon's peak! I was hoping to do it in this chapter, but succeeded it making it too long and cut it off and moved what else I had done to the next chapter.  
  
Erin Mcateer-sama, I'm sorry. *bows so low forehead is touching floor* I didn't mean to call you by your dad's name. I corrected it when I uploaded this chapter. Thank you again for the picture. I am about half way done uploading my stories to it (which is impressive for someone who didn't know any html a few weeks ago and is now using it completely for that section of my page). If anyone has any suggestions for other things I should put up there (aside from a small image gallery) please let me know. I could really use some ideas. Also, thank you everyone who helped me out with the color of Gaav and Dynast's eyes. That will have relivance later. Anyway, that's all I have to say for now. As always, please review. 


	8. Almost

"Look, Lina, a town," Xaina stated as she pointed to the buildings slowly appearing in sight. She gave a quick glance to the red haired woman whom she floated next to and smiled. "No more sleeping outside.  
  
"Finally. I was beginning to think we'd never get to this place," Lina grumbled.  
  
"That's Dragons Peak?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"I thought Dragons Peak would be a mountain, not a town."  
  
"It is a mountain," Amelia broke in. "This is just the town right before it. The woods that lead up to Dragons Peak are behind the village." The princess pointed up behind the village to a mountain that was coming in to view through the haze from the clouds over the sky. "That is dragons peak."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Filia sped up her pace so she was even with the red head. Her face was flushed a darker red then it had been the day before. She was sweating slightly as well. Lina wanted to ask her about it but knew the dragon had far too much pride to talk about it unless she was truly hurt or needed a rest.  
  
"And you're certain that there are dragons still living there?"  
  
"Of course there are," Xellos replied before anyone else could. "Would I lie to you?"  
  
Filia glared at the trickster walking just behind her. "Yes."  
  
"You don't trust me?"  
  
"No. I thought that was obvious."  
  
Xellos mock pouted in the hopes of teasing her, but she ignored him. Xaina giggled. "Your not very convincing, Xellos."  
  
"Really? Well, then I guess I'll have to work harder if I want a good meal."  
  
The blonde woman whirled around, mace in hand and sneered at him. "Don't you even dare, nomagomi!"  
  
"Ah, such tasty negative emotions," he teased. He smiled at her innocently as her angry grew. Much to his disappointment, she forced herself to stay calm and turned back around. She continued stiffly walking towards the village. 'Awe, I'm losing my touch. She didn't even try to hit me, let alone destroy anything.'  
  
"I can't wait to take a bath," Lina sighed in a dreamy tone. "Get all this travel dirt off. It feels like forever since I was last clean."  
  
"A bath before I go up there would be nice," Filia agreed. "A quick one, anyway."  
  
"Awe, come on, Filia. Relax. You sound like you plan on getting their today."  
  
"I do."  
  
"But it'll be past dark before we even get to town," Amelia protested.  
  
Filia made herself stand as straight as possible while she walked. She turned her eyes up and away from them, not wanting or willing to look at them. "I am planning to get there today. I need to go as soon as possible."  
  
"One more day wont kill you... It wont, will it?" the sorceress inquired hesitantly.  
  
"No, but... but... but it should be taken care of soon."  
  
Lina and Amelia exchanged disapproving glances at the blonde woman's hesitation. She wasn't telling them something. "Still, you should take a night to get rested and rejuvenated."  
  
"She would be wise to continue her journey from the town alone," Destiny stated in her usual cold tone.  
  
A shiver ran up Lina's body at the sound of the woman's voice. Her very voice seemed to chill the air all around them. After what the older Xaina had said about Destiny taking her child, Lina had been too afraid of the woman to go anywhere near her alone.  
  
"Oh, I quite agree," Xellos said with a large grin. "Night is the perfect time to arrive since it is when males and females spend the most time 'together'."  
  
A rather bright blush spread across the women and Zelgadiss' face. Gourry watched them in confusion, blissfully unaware of what Xellos had been implying. Destiny didn't seem to care either way. Xaina, on the other hand, was completely baffled about what they were talking about, and like any good child, her curiosity got the better of her.  
  
"Why?" the child inquired. This earned her several embarrassed and concerned looks from most of the adults.  
  
Xellos grinned like the Cheshire cat (I was playing Kingdom Hearts, so sue me) as he peered over at her through his partially open eyes. "Why?"  
  
"Yes, why? I spend time with boys and girls during the day. Why's it different at night?"  
  
"Well, you see, Xaina..."  
  
"Xellos!!!" Lina, Filia, Amelia, and Zelgadiss all shouted at once. Xaina folded her ears back and zipped behind Gourry in fear.  
  
"What? I was merely trying to teach my student a few facts about life."  
  
"You pervert!" Filia snapped. "Ignore him, Xaina. He's nothing but a perverted piece of rotten filth that should have been disposed of after the war of the monsters."  
  
Xellos puffed. (Now you know he's mad.) "Oh, really? Is that so? You mean like how you golds disposed of the ancients?"  
  
A low growl escaped Filia. "Th-that is different!"  
  
"Why, because your raising the last ancient and you happen to be fond of him?" Filia didn't waste a second in pulling her mace back out and charging him. Xellos dodged but the unfortunate rock behind him was unable to do so and was smashed. "How very dragon of you, Filia; attacking someone just because they point out one of your MANY flaws." She swung again, but completely missed.  
  
"Not again," Zelgadiss groaned.  
  
~*~*~  
  
He smiled so innocently that she couldn't help but smile herself. His ear was pressed to her stomach while his arms encircled her protectively. It was amazing how something so small could make him so happy.  
  
"I can hear the baby's heart," he stated in wonderment.  
  
"It kicks too, when it's awake," Lina replied while she brushed her hair. Alright, so having Gourry kneeling in front of her with his ear pressed to her belly didn't make staying sitting or brushing her hair easy, but it made him happy. She had been a little moody lately and yelled, hit, and plain out abused him a lot and now she was feeling rather guilty about it. Good thing for her, Gourry was always easy to please.  
  
"The baby kicks?" Lina nodded with a rather proud smile. The blond pulled back and stared at her stomach for a long moment. "You really shouldn't kick your mother. It's not very nice and Lina might get mad."  
  
Lina couldn't help but giggle. She rubbed one hand through Gourry's hair affectionately. "The baby's kicking is a good thing. It means it's healthy. If it stopped kicking regularly, I'd be worried."  
  
"Oh. How come the baby's not kicking now?"  
  
"It's asleep... I think. It'll start again, though. Just wait 'till one or two in the morning. It's really lively then. Likes to keep me up too."  
  
"Oh. You can wake me up too..."  
  
"Wake you up? What kind of a person do you think I am? Just because I'm up, you think I should disturb the sleep of others around me?"  
  
"You've tried, haven't you?  
  
"I've met dead people who'er easier to rouse then you."  
  
"I'm a heavy sleeper," he teased with a smile.  
  
"That's putting in nicely," she teased back. Gourry lifted himself up a little and gave her a gentle kiss. When he pulled back slightly, she nuzzled against him. "Your warm..."  
  
~*~*~  
  
The chimera sighed as he took a sip of his drink. He knew he shouldn't drink coffee this late, but somehow, he always found it soothed his nerves. It didn't really matter if it kept him up late since he planned on working on the prophecy that night anyway. Being alert for that would be helpful.  
  
"You really shouldn't drink coffee this late at night, Mr. Zelgadiss," the princess' familiar voice stated as she approached the table to sit with him. "It'll keep you up."  
  
'Damn,' he mentally cursed. 'I was hoping she wouldn't show up.' "I'm going to be working late on the prophecy, so it doesn't matter," he remarked without bothering to look at her, hoping she might leave. Instead, she sat. "Aren't you up a little late? I thought you were going to take a bath and go off to bed"  
  
"I was. I couldn't sleep though. I thought I might be able to get some warm milk to help, but then I saw you and you looked lonely..."  
  
"So you thought you'd keep me company," he finished in a rather cold tone. "Thanks, but I'm fine. I prefer being alone." She looked sightly hurt by his words. Jerk, he scolded himself.  
  
'It has to be done,' he tried to reason. 'We can't keep going on completely afraid of looking each other in the eye. She's got to know that.'  
  
'You just want to look her in the eye,' the first side grunted. 'And none of that means you have to be a jerk to her.'  
  
"Oh," she sighed disheartedly. Slowly, as if her body had become lead, she stood. As he glanced over at her, he saw her face was clouded with doubt. Now Zelgadiss really felt like a jerk. "Well, have a good night..."  
  
"Is something the matter, Amelia?" the chimera inquired as it dawned on him she had really come looking for someone to talk to and not to actually keep him company.  
  
She glanced at him for a moment, then looked away. "No." Zel could see right through her words. She was a terrible liar.  
  
"Are you sure?" She wouldn't look at him. It was something to do with him, he was sure of that now. "Sit." She obeyed without hesitation. He signaled for the woman still working at the bar. She hurried over. "Can you get her some warm milk." The woman nodded and left. When she was gone, he turned his full attention back to Amelia. "Well?"  
  
"Well what?"  
  
"Are you going to keep me company or just sit there?"  
  
A small smile crept up on her lips and he couldn't help but smile a little himself. Zel quickly took a sip of his coffee to hide it.  
  
"Mr. Zelgadiss, I... I want to apologize for the other night." He gave her a confused look. "When we met Dragon, Monster, Outcast, and Prince in their other forms. I didn't mean to grab you or... or panic..."  
  
"You don't have to apologize," he interrupted. "If I'd been in your position, I would of probably done the same thing. Especially knowing what he did."  
  
There was a long, uneasy silence that filled the air as the woman brought out the glass of heated milk and left. The princess took a sip, savoring the taste in her mouth and mentally following it as it warmed her throat and belly inside. Zelgadiss sipped his coffee, not bothering to taste it, merely hoping the caffeine would surge in to his system quickly.  
  
"Do you think they could really be..."  
  
"I don't know," Zel interjected. "Frankly, I'm not sure I want to know."  
  
"Because of Posmose?" He didn't answer. "If he is from... then, he could..."  
  
"He could NOTHING, Amelia," he interrupted again, but much harsher this time. Amelia flinched away from him. His heart twisted painfully as he saw the fear in her movements. "Sorry."  
  
"It's alright."  
  
"I'd rather not talk about them, right now."  
  
"Alright."  
  
Again, there was silence between them. The candle on the table sizzled slightly as it burned. The room was almost empty, except for a few drunks and the bar maid cleaning up for the night. It was warm in the room, but not uncomfortably so. Amelia kept her hands on her now half empty glass as she watched a drunk man attempt to flirt with the bar maid. She sneered at him but didn't try and force him to stop. Zelgadiss sipped his coffee with his eyes closed.  
  
"Hey Zel!" Xellos chirped as he appeared right next to the chimera, half asleep Xaina in hand. "Just the person I was looking for. You did such a great job babysitting last time..."  
  
"Oh no!"  
  
"...that I thought I'd ask you to so again. I was told Xaina wasn't old enough to see some of the things I need to take care of real quick..."  
  
"No way, Xellos! I don't like kids!"  
  
"...so I need someone to watch her." He shoved the child in the chimeras grasp and him a cocky grin. "Now be good." The trickster then disappeared.  
  
Zelgadiss glared at the exhausted child in his arms. "Not again," he groaned.  
  
"Yer tellin' me," Xaina yawned.  
  
~*~*~  
  
'So hot,' she mentally moaned. 'It's getting worse.' She glanced down at her bare human hands. The palms had turned a faint pink color though the top had remained a pale peach. She dreaded to think how red her scales were now. 'It's spreading to quickly. I shouldn't be showing sings in this form yet.' Her hand traced down to her bare belly. It too was as red, though it was brighter than her palms. The color spread all the way up to her throat and down to the insides of her calves. She had no doubt that the bottoms of her feet were also turning color.  
  
A light breeze carried in through the open window and she eagerly breathed it in. For a moment, it cooled her lungs, but the pleasant cold quickly faded back to the sour heat. Her tail waged back and forth with the spade facing her as she attempted to fan herself. 'And this isn't even the worst of it,' she grumbled. 'Add this to the dreams...' A gnawing sensation crawled up her body as the images from her dreams surface. A man holding her so tight and protectively, whispering loving words in her ear, tasting her skin... Oh Ceiphied, how she wanted to answer that sensation, obey that instinct, but she couldn't; not until she had a mate. She shivered as the instinct grew louder. She concentrated for a moment, attempting to force the instinct back down where it had come from. It worked and the sensation subsided a bit... for now, anyway. It was only a matter of time before it would refuse to be ignored.  
  
'Just continue focusing on Dragon's Peak. Nothing else matters at the moment. You... you can explain to Lina and the others latter... when everything is over. She'll understand.' Her eyes turned up to the moon as it shone through the thin clouds above. The moonlight bounced off the clouds directly around the sphere in the sky and made it appear as if there was a glowing ring around it. 'Maybe I... he might agree to. Then again, he might not. He just better be nice to Val.'  
  
*****  
  
Xellos couldn't help but admire her. She was so beautiful sitting there in front of the window wearing nothing but her undergarments. Her flaxen hair swayed ever so slightly as a light breeze passed through the air. Moonlight accented her face, softening every line and making her skin seem to glow. Her front was a light shade of pink while the underside of her tail was a brilliant vermilion. 'It's spreading,' he concluded. 'Her temperature must be rising too. Explains why she has yet to notice me. This should make things easier though.'  
  
"You do make a lovely picture, Filia." She whirled around in her chair with her arms wrapped around her body in some attempt to preserve her modesty. "My my, if I didn't know better I'd think you were expecting me."  
  
"If I were expecting you, I wouldn't be dressed like this!" she spat. Her eyes darted to her mace on the night stand which the monster priest happily stood next to. He happily picked up the mace and pretended to examine it. "Put that down!"  
  
Through his closed eyes, he watched her every move carefully. "Why? You wont be needing it tonight."  
  
"Put down my mace!"  
  
He smirked at her playfully. "Make me." For a moment, she looked ready to do just that. A second later, she took a hesitant step back towards the window. He peered open one eye curiously. What had started as frustration had suddenly turned in to fear. That wasn't what he had been hoping for.  
  
"Just go away, Xellos," she said with a steady voice he could tell she was forcing. "I... I have a big day tomorrow and I need to rest for it. I can't stay up playing games right now."  
  
She was lying. She hated lying most of the time, even if it was to him. But she had to make him leave. Something about the way he was looking at her with one dark eye open worried her. He was up to something and she wasn't sure she wanted to know what... or did she? She couldn't tell anymore. The hormones in her body were making it hard to think right.  
  
"Games?" he inquired. "What games? Who said I was here to play, though we could play if you like." The second violet eye peeked open and stared at her, looking the young blonde up and down very carefully. He gave her a suggestive smile and she blushed. "You do look very lovely when you blush, Filia, and with the moonlight from the window, you are the very image of a perfect angle."  
  
Her blush got deeper and her eyes turned away. The fear had grown slightly, but not to the point where she was panicking yet, he noted. 'Time to test me luck,' he thought. He took a step closer. She backed in to the window sill with her back entire against the open window. He willed the mace to the other side of the room, having it rest silently on the floor out of direct sight. Then, he took another step closer. She still refused to look at him. Her blush grew and now covered her entire face. Had there been more room, he was sure she would have backed up more. He took several more tentative steps. Her arms tightened around her upper body and her finger nails dug in to the bare skin on her arms. The sapphire eyes squinted shut as if she were attempting to block him out of her mind by not seeing him.  
  
Filia gave a slight shiver when he came to stand right in front of her. Neither of them moved after that. She could feel his eyes on her. The fever in her blood grew, and it felt as if it raised her temperature even further. A small voice inside her cheered the fact that she was so close to a male... even if he was a monster. The rest told her to run, move away, keep away from him. His hand reached out and brushed some hair out of her face. Warm... His hand was so warm... yet so comforting... All thoughts of retreat were abandoned.  
  
"Filia," he whispered. Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name. "What do you want?"  
  
Her voice seemed to have forgotten how to work. She wanted him. She hated him. She wanted to be rid of this fever now. She wanted to have a proper mate. She wanted to answer him, to yell as many contradicting statements as she could think of. She wanted... she didn't know. It was so confusing.  
  
"Go away," she finally managed to breath out.  
  
"Are you sure?" The trickster leaned in close to her so the breath he used to speak tickled her ear. Another shiver ran through her body. "I know why they call it the blood fever. It starts just along the stomach..." His hand traced up her belly to emphasize his point. She didn't try and slap it away, a fact that would have shocked her had she not been so focused on how his gentle hand traced up her skin. "...Then it moves up to the chest, through the heart, through the blood veins, and up to the mind..." His fingers came to rest on the side of her temple and she leaned in to them slightly. "...where it robs her of all her senses rendering her unable to properly care for herself until she either mates or it works out of her system. Your temperature is starting to rise. As I recall, that means the worst of it starting to set in and you don't have much longer." The trickster's fingers slid back down her check and under her chin. Delicately, he lifted her face so she was looking at him. She hesitated in opening her own eyes, but when she did, she found herself staring directly in to his violet irises. "I can end it here and now... if you want."  
  
His lips brushed over hers. Her eyes slipped closed again and he pressed in deeper, fully kissing her, as his own eyes slid closed. She made no moves to either deepen or break free from the kiss. Her hands remained clamped on her arms. Her emotions suddenly became blank to him and he was certain her mind currently matched her emotions. It wasn't good, he knew, but it wasn't bad either. He pulled back hesitantly, not really wanting to break the kiss but not really sure he should prolong it. The violet eyes peered open again at her face, searching for any sort of a reaction.  
  
__________________________________________________________  
  
Yes, I know. I'm evil.  
  
Last time, I said I had writers block. I did, but not the kind where I didn't know what was going to happen. The problem was, even though I had a very good idea about what was going to happen, I couldn't seem to put it in words. I hate that. Makes me crazier then anything else. Currently having that problem with my second novel. Grrr. Where did Writer's Block go? I feel like pounding him to a pulp again.  
  
Well, my slayers page is almost ready to go up (almost there after working on it sparingly in my free time and learning html). All that I'm really looking for right now are pictures, fan pictures to be precise. If you have slayers fan art of any kind (that can go on a PG13 page) and wouldn't mind sharing a copy with me, I'd love to add it to my little gallery. If you have fan art from my series (someone mentioned wanting to do a picture of Xaina a while ago) that would be greatly appreciated too.  
  
Alright, I'm off to write the next chapter and start getting my second fic up (since I finally finished putting Monster Blood up on my soon to be released to the public page). As always, please read and review. 


	9. He Can Be Taught

Her hormones screamed in agony as he pulled away. Her blood suddenly ran hot... well hotter. Filia bit her lip. Oh Ceiphied, why couldn't he have just kept kissing her? Oh Ceiphied, why did she still want him to kiss her?!  
  
'Dragons' Peak! Dragons' Peak! Dragon's Peak!' she chanted in her mind over and over again as she scruntched up her face.  
  
'But he's here now! 'the persistent voice of her hormones complained.  
  
'Dragons' Peak! Dragons' Peak! '  
  
'But Xellos is here now!'  
  
'Dragons' Peak! Dragons' Peak!'  
  
'Xellos is...'  
  
'Dragon's Peak!'  
  
'Xellos.'  
  
'Proper dragon mate!'  
  
'... ... He can be taught to be a proper dragon mate later.' Filia literally threw herself in to the trickster's arms. Xellos was a little surprised by her reaction, but didn't offer any complaints as she wrapped her arms behind his neck and roughly pulled him in to a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her as tightly as he could without actually hurting her.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Bastard," Zelgadiss grumbled.  
  
"Hey, just cuz I didn't have a father doesn't mean ya have to insult me!" Xaina snapped. "It's not like I asked to be dragged out of my bed and dropped here!"  
  
"Not you!" the chimera snapped back. "I meant Xellos!"  
  
"Oh... okay then. Can you put me down now?"  
  
Zel was about to drop the child when he saw Amelia holding out her arms toward the girl. He sighed and handed the child over, grateful to be rid of her. Xaina blinked several times as she stared at the princess through her tired eyes. Amelia placed the girl on her lap. Xaina blinked several more times, then yawned and snuggled up to the woman, eager to go back to sleep. The woman smiled as she brushed a hand down the back of the child's head. Xaina's breathing soon became slow and even as she drifted back to sleep.  
  
A fond, maternal smile crept up on Amelia's lips as she watched the child. "She's so cute."  
  
"A cute little monster," Zel grunted before taking another sip of his coffee. "Remember that."  
  
"She has lived as a human..."  
  
"For only four years. Think back on your life Amelia. How much do you remember before you were four?" The smile faded as her face became somber. "Exactly. In another four years she'll be just like Xellos."  
  
"But Xaina's not..."  
  
"Not yet," he interrupted.  
  
This time, the princess glared at him. "Oh, and what makes you so sure of that? You don't even know anything about children. You said so yourself."  
  
He took a sip of his coffee. "I know they become what they are raised around." Amelia opened her mouth to protest, but he didn't give her a chance. "Just look at you and your father. Think about how much alike you two are."  
  
Amelia scowled. "You're absolutely right, Mr. Zelgadiss," she agreed in a voice that dripped with venom. "I am like my father, just like you're so much like Rezo, searching for your cure with the same disregard for others as he had while searching for his cure. So when should we start expecting you to resurrect ancient demons like Zanafar and Shabernigdo? You've already made it clear your friends don't mean much to you." It was a low blow, she knew, but right now she was mad enough to use it.  
  
The chimera glared at her. "How dare you..." he started to growl.  
  
"How dare YOU assume anything you don't know anything about. Maybe she'll be like Xellos, maybe she wont. You have no way to know that." She scooted out her chair and stood sharply. She took several stiff steps towards the stairs to the second floor, then stopped. She boosted the sleeping child in her arms up as she glanced back at Zel. "And just so you know, I am as much like my father as you are like Rezo. No more, no less." She didn't wait for any sort of response as she trudged up to her room.  
  
Zel was left sitting at the table, grumbling in to his coffee.  
  
~*~*~  
  
There was a slight tug in his link to Xaina. She was being moved and it was pulling on him. 'Damn that tie!' the trickster mentally grumbled. He could feel it pulling him back. For a moment, he thought he was going to have to go get her and put her somewhere close so she wouldn't move as much. Then he realized he was being pulled towards the bed and Filia was going right along with him without breaking the kiss. M'aybe it's not SO bad.'  
  
When they reached the bed, she pushed him down so he was sitting on it. Filia sat on his lap and pulled him back in to the kiss that had been temporarily broken. She bit his lip gruffly and began kissing his chin and neck. Had he not been a monster, her kiss would have caused him to bleed. Of course, she also could have crushed him with her weight by now. "Such a violent little dragon," he teased.  
  
*****  
  
His words pushed through the fog that had covered her senses. Realization suddenly came back and slapped her in the face. Her eyes opened and she saw what was going on, what she was doing, and to whom she was doing it to. It took only a fraction of a second for her body to react. She leaped off of him only to find herself pulled back by his strong grip.  
  
"Now now, Filia dear, it's not nice to invite a man to your room and then run away from him," Xellos continued to tease playfully.  
  
Then next thing the trickster knew, her fist had made contact with his face and caused him to release his hold on her as he was knocked several feet back. He tumbled to the floor in a rather undignified heap. Before he could even pick himself up, he found a mace being held mere inches from his face.  
  
"And who invited you!?" the dragon woman snapped. "How dare you try and take advantage of me, nomagomi!"  
  
"Hey, now who's taking advantage of who here?"  
  
Filia's face turned even redder. She swung her mace while letting out a low pitched growl. Xellos teleported away as fast as he could. Her mace smashed its way through the water pitcher on the night stand. "And don't you come back, you disgusting piece of monster scum!"  
  
*****  
  
Xellos teleport a few feet from Xaina and found himself outside Amelia's door. He mumbled a curse under his breath. 'Damn it! I was so close!' He wobbled slightly as the pheromones caught up with him finally. 'What the hell happened!?! 'He clenched a fist and muttered several more curses.  
  
At the end of the hall, he spotted a window that showed Dragon's Peak. They would be there in the afternoon. He knew he wouldn't get another opportunity like this if they got there. Of course, stopping or even delaying them wouldn't be easy either. Sure, there were other ways of going about getting what he needed done, but most of them didn't really appeal to him. He preferred to have consent over force. So what was he going to do now? Simple, what he did best: make it up as he went along.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"You're sure you're ready, Filia?" Lina asked for the twentieth time since they had left the inn that morning.  
  
The dragon woman taking the lead nodded. "Absolutely sure. This is my destiny, no pun intended." She smiled sheepishly as she glanced back at the sorceress dressed in black. Destiny gave a slight nod back but her face remained as cold as ever.  
  
"Is Miss Filia the only dragon you've seen, Xaina-chan?" Amelia inquired with a smile. She glanced slightly back at the child she carried on her back and smiled even more (if that's possible).  
  
"Yep, but I've never seen her as an actually dragon, just as she is now," the girl replied.  
  
"You must be excited them."  
  
"Yep!" Xaina responded enthusiastically.  
  
Lina felt a tap on her shoulder. She gazed up at the tapper, a very confused Gourry. "Yes, Gourry, I'm fine," the red head grated out. "You don't need to carry me or anything."  
  
"Um, okay. Say Lina, where's Xellos? Isn't he suppose to be here when Xaina's here or do we get to keep her again?"  
  
"Who knows, who cares where that slime bag is," Filia snorted.  
  
"I don't. That's why I'm asking," the blond swordsman stated.  
  
Filia's tail popped out. Lina slapped her hand against her forehead, muttering something along the lines of "Why did I marry idiot?" and "Stupidity better not be hereditary."  
  
"Oh, he's around somewhere," Zelgadiss supplied. "He just doesn't want to be seen at the moment."  
  
"Indeed," Destiny agreed. "He would be wise to stay away from this valley. Many of his enemies live here."  
  
"Yeah, except Xellos can annihilate them all with the snap of his fingers."  
  
"Even the mouse has defenses against the snake."  
  
Everyone stared at Destiny and blinked in confusion and surprise. The woman rarely spoke, let alone offered wisdom.  
  
"I think we're here," Filia stated calmly. Everyone turned their attention ahead.  
  
A familiar sight greeted the slayers. A low valley was laid out before them and the sky glittered black and gold as thousands of dragons glided around. Many had turned their attention to the group and were staring at the slayers. Millions of blue, green, gold, brown, and black eyes studied them carefully, as if trying to read their motives yet already knowing exactly what the travelers were there for.  
  
Lina shifted uncomfortably until she felt Gourry rest a hand on her shoulder. Without any of her magic, the sight of these dragons was a bit more terrifying. Xaina leaned forward on Amelia's back, eager to see as much as possible. Amelia couldn't help but smile at the child's curiosity. Zel and Destiny both watched passively while the birds stood on the ground around their master's feet.  
  
Filia didn't hesitate for a moment. She stepped forward to the edge of the cliff. The blonde woman took several deep breaths before placing her hands over her chest where her priestess jewel once was. A few seconds later, her body began to glow until it had become light.  
  
__________________________________________________________  
  
Come on, guys. You didn't REALLY think I was gonna let Xellos have her THAT easily. Not at all. Is it namagomi or nomigomi? Red pointed this out to me and I must confess that I just hunted the spelling of the word down from someone else' fic. If anyone else knows, please let me know. I'd hate to be spelling it wrong. Jea Kinnaran, you read all of it in one sitting? WOW. That's a lot of sitting and reading. You must read really fast. I commend you. Also, I'm glad I could make you laugh. That is high praise. I do try to throw humor in my writing (especially my slayers' fics). Writing humor is really hard since everyone has different ideas on what is or is not funny. I'm glad people enjoy some of the jokes here and there. Everyone else that's reviewed, I thank you. *bows* I really do appreciate the support especially when my updating schedule on this is rather erratic.  
  
I wish to apologize for how long it took me to update. Been having a few issues (one of which was known as spring break at my parents who have a computer that hates me). I have two big reports that could make or break my grades due on the same day in a week and a half. I just got both assignments (which are for two different classes, of two different subjects, and are in two different buildings, but somehow find a way to stress me out by always having assignments due at the same time) on Friday. I'm also attempting to start up a comic as soon as keenspace is taking people again. I currently have the prologue up on my web page.  
  
Speaking of my web page, it's up and finished... well sorta finished... okay, it's just up. Feel free to look at it, offer comments, and submit things to me. (*Get's big, innocent Amelia eyes*) Please. You can go the slayers part of it by going to   
  
Well, that's about it. I'm off to write one of my reports. I hope to get the next chapter written, cleaned up, and put up before May. As always, please leave a review. 


	10. Rules are Rules

Amelia, Zelgadiss, and Lina turned their gazes away from Filia. Xaina and Gourry stared curiously until Amelia covered the child's eyes and Lina yanked her husband's hair almost to the point of ripping it out. 

The clothes on Filia's body disappeared as the light grew and reformed her body. In only a few seconds' time, the blonde woman had been replaced with a large dragon. When the others turned to glance back at her, they gaped in shock. This was not the dragon Filia any of the slayers remembered. 

Filia was much bigger and thinner. Her hair had grown twice as long as before. The dragon woman's snout had rounded out and become more like the other dragons the slayers had seen. Her skin was a shiny gold along the back but all along her throat, stomach, and the underside of her tail was blood red. Most noticeable of all was the strong perfume scent she had before was now overpowering and enough to make most people nauseous. 

Many of the dragons had taken notice to the new dragon in their presence. Several were starting to circle around in order to get a better look. 

"Possible mates?" Lina inquired. 

She received no answer. Everyone was more interested in what was going to happen. After several more had circled around and the crowed had grown a considerable amount, two dragons approached. They landed and gave slight bows. Filia bowed deeply while saying something in draconic. When she finished speaking, Filia remained bowing. The two dragons glanced at each other, stated something, then turned back to Filia. The taller of the two dragons smiled in what Lina guessed would have been comforting had she been a dragon. The dragon spoke in a soft voice and Filia rose out of her bow. It turned towards the group of gathered dragons. The dragon cleared its throat, then spoke in a booming voice. Again, everything it said was in draconic so none of the slayers knew what was being said. Most of the gathered dragons suddenly looked very excited. 

The second dragon nodded to Filia. It took off in the air. Filia glanced back at her friends, then turned and followed. The first dragon took off after they left and was followed by the others. 

Lina scratched her head. "So, what, that's it?" 

"Apparently," Zel sighed. 

"What now?" Xaina asked. The red head shrugged. "Do we leave, or do we stay for her?" 

"We leave," Destiny stated. "We have no time to spend here. Miss Filia can catch up with us later." 

"But I wanna see who her mate is?" the child complained. 

"That wont be decided for several days at least," a calm voice explained. Everyone turned to see a blond man dressed in white walking towards them. 

"Melgasia!" Lina cried joyfully. "Long time no see." 

"Indeed..." 

"So, what's going on exactly? Do we getta see just what all those people that just left are doing? What d'ya mean by a few days? And..." 

"You've put on a considerable amount of weight, Miss Lina," the dragon man interrupted. 

Lina suddenly stopped speaking. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Are you calling me fat?" 

"Uh-oh," Gourry whimpered as he backed away. 

"Time to run," Amelia muttered as she too backed off. 

Melgasia nodded. "With the way you currently look, yes you do appear to be over normal human weight." 

"Really?" Lina growled through grated teeth. Suddenly realizing his mistake, the dragon began to back off. "So I'm fat, huh?" 

"I was simply stating an observation," the golden dragon said nervously yet still retaining his relatively calm demeanor. "I did not mean it as an insult." 

"Well it sure came out as one," the sorceress growled. Her hands began to glow as she powered up a spell. A malicious grin spread over her face as she reached the end of the quiet incantation of the spell. Melgasia took another hesitant step back. "Fire ball!" Lina threw her arms out, throwing the spell. A puff of smoke left her hands. Everyone blinked in confusion. "Damn it!" Lina screeched. Melgasia let out a small but obviously relieved sigh. "Why can't you work now of all times!" the red head snapped at her hands. 

The dragon raised a curious eye brow. "Is she ill?" 

"Pregnant," Zelgadiss sighed. 

"Oh... oh dear. That can not be good." 

"No kidding. At least her powers have dropped off... for the moment." 

"I see..." 

Lina glared at her stomach. "Damn it! Couldn't you at least let me use one spell!?! I just want to blow him up for insulting me!" She felt a kick off to the right side of her popped belly. "Fine! Be that way!" 

"Then again, there might not be much difference between pregnant and insane for her," Zel remarked causally. 

"I heard that!" the sorceress snapped. 

Xaina floated up and off Amelia's shoulders, catching Melgasia's attention for the first time. He had sensed Xellos' presence since they had arrived but this child did not look like Xellos. In fact, now that he started to scan her powers, she felt more like... no... that couldn't be right... 

The girl swayed through the air to the bitter sorceress and gave her a pat on the head. "Cheer up, Lina. If you'd like, I can sick Booie on him for you." 

Lina chuckled and reached out her arms so Xaina could land in them. "No no. That's alright. You need Booie to protect you. Besides, that takes the fun out of beating him up myself." 

"Miss Lina," the dragon man interrupted, "Are you aware that the creature you are holding is a monster?" 

The red head nodded. "Yep, and she's the best monster there is because she's so cute." She nuzzled against the girl's cheek, earning her a giggle from the child. 

Melgasia eyed the child suspiciously but said nothing. Just sensing her power showed she was very strong. However, most of it seemed to be bogged down with seals that were wearing away, meaning she didn't have access to that power... yet, anyway. Still, there was no sense in risking offending the monster if she really wasn't interested in posing a threat. There was no point in starting a war with them again over something so small as this strange monster. Yet, there was something else about her he that bothered him. It nagged at the back of his mind yet didn't come fully forward to reveal itself. He couldn't place a finger on it, but there was something off about her. 

His eyes flickered over to the woman in black. He had noticed her before but wasn't sure what to make of her. When he tried to sense her magic, he came up with nothing. In fact, he couldn't even sense that she was alive. Yet, there was an interesting aura _around_ her that he could not place the origin of. It was a sort of power that flickered, like something inside was trying to escape it but kept getting pulled back in to the blend of power. Part of him wanted to attack her, just to see _what_ she was. The logical part of his mind, however, spoke better then that and told him not to. Who or what ever Lina's new companion was, she was quite odd. 

"Master Melgasia! Master Melgasia!" two dragon men in human form cried as they ran up the hill towards him. "We have a problem!" 

"What sort of problem?"  


~~~~~  


"What do you mean I can't enter?" Xellos demanded. "There is absolutely nothing in your rules that says I can't!" 

The young priestess coward behind the desk as she flipped through the rule book, frantically looking for something to support her claim. She was terrified enough of the monster before her without him being annoyed. "Y-y-y-you're a m-m-m-monster," she studdered frantically. "M-m-m-monsters d-d-d-d-don't t-take m-m-mates." She didn't know if that was true or not, but she had to say something. 

"Say who?" 

"Xellos?" Melgasia half gasped as he came in to the room with the slayers gang in tow. 

"Xellos!" Lina roared. "What do you think you're doing!?! If you're trying to ruin this for Filia, so help me, I'll...!?!" 

The dragon priestess ran from behind the table and over to Melgasia. "Master Melgasia, he claims he wants to enter!" 

"Enter?" Amelia asked no in particular. 

"Of course I want to enter," Xellos huffed. "I wouldn't have come down here if I didn't." 

"Enter what?" Xaina queried as she floated over to him and sat on the end of his staff. "Are they have a contest or somethin'?" 

The trickster put on his usual smile. "Yes they are. It's quite a large contest, too. They pit every man against each other and let them battle it out to see who is strong enough to be the female in heat's mate. In this case Filia's mate." 

"You want to what!?!" the slayers cried at once in horror. 

"You don't have much of a survival instinct, do you?" Destiny inquired. 

"Why?" Xaina asked. "I thought you hated Filia." 

"I don't hate Filia. She makes the best meals and causes the most wonderful destruction. How could any monster hate that?" 

Amelia jumped in front of Melgasia and the young priestess. "You mean they all just battle each other to see who get's to be her mate!?" The dragons nodded. The priestess looked a little confused by the human girl's outburst. "For life!?" Again, the dragons nodded. "And she doesn't even have a choice!?!" 

"She may refuse the one who wins," Melgasia stated calmly. 

"She just wont ever take a mate if she does that," the priestess added. 

The princess looked horrified. "Where is the _justice_ in that!?! It is entirely unfair!! What if she loves someone else!?! Is she supposed to just forget about him!?!" 

"Pretty much," Xellos stated. He smirked as the anger on her got stronger. He never was one to pass up a meal. 

"This is terrible! Marriage should be to the person you love, not a stranger!" the black haired girl ranted as her companions sighed in a bored tone. "You can't simply force to people together and expect them to be happy!..." 

"Amelia," Lina interrupted before things got worse, "_Now_ is not the time." 

"But Miss Lina! Don't you care anything for Miss Filia's happiness!?" 

"If she wasn't sure she wanted this, she wouldn't have willingly come, now would she?" 

"But... but..." 

"But nothing!" Lina barked, making the younger girl back down. 

Melgasia turned his attention back to Xellos. "You are not allowed to enter." 

"Actually, there is absolutely nothing in your rules that says I'm not," Xellos calmly replied. "By your own rules, I am more than welcome to compete if I want to." 

"There must be a rule that says you can not," the dragon insisted as he grabbed the book away from the priestess. He flipped through the pages several times, reading it over and over again. There had to be something in there that would forbid him. "Ah, here we are. You can not enter because you can not use dragon abilities." 

This caused Xellos to quirk his eye brows. "Really?" He teleported right next to Melgasia and peered down at the page. He read it over carefully, then smirked. "It says the competitors must only use dragon or dragon _like_ abilities." 

"You are a monster. Monsters can not use dragon or dragon _like_ abilities." 

"Sure I can. Just watch me." 

"But... but... you can't!" the priestess cried. "Monsters can't enter! It's never been _done!_" 

"And when has that ever stopped anyone?" Xellos inquired. "Besides, there has to be a first for everything. Just think of how this will go down in history." 

"You mean as a disaster?" Zelgadiss sighed. Xellos smirked. 

"Oh no," Lina groaned. "This is going to be bad." 

"So we get to stay and watch now, right?" Xaina asked excitedly. Her teacher nodded proudly. "Yeah!"  
______________________________________________________  
  


Yes, that's right! Tealya is FINALLY posting again. Took her long enough, huh? Alright, I know I said mid October. Well, mid October came around I looked at the page I had and felt bad. So, I decided to wait a little longer a get the chapter finished. Now, ha, I have done it! And it's still October! Ha ha! You're all happy, right. I promise I'll get another chapter done before the end of November too... maybe two. The next few chapters will go a little quicker since it's mostly battle stuff. Yes, we'll get to see Xellos use a fraction of his strength and off of his intelligence. 

Alright, now, I'm pretty sure I put a note in the beginning of this that said it was just a part of a longer series. I broke it apart because it was going to get really really long if I did and I find lots of people don't read fics when they have a ton of chapters (like the 40 that make up this fic so far). Not to mention almost 250 pages, typed, single spaced, 12 point font on my computer. If anyone is curious, this is now as long as my first novel... and it's only a little more than half done. Then again, the novel is just the first in a long series... and I'm currently sure one of my characters has gone crazy in it... 

Anyway, yes my life has been hectic, mainly because I am a college student who's trying to pull a double major and graduate in four years. *sarcastic* Yes, I know, good luck Tealya. *normal again* I plan on passing all my classes so I don't have to retake them and can finish school so I can go on to get a masters. Frankly, right now, fan fiction is rather low on my list of priorities. The tops being family, friends, and school. Just under that is the writing I want to do professionally. Professionally as in for a living. If I could just do that I would, but I know that isn't likely to happen. Under my writing is my comic. If you'd like to see it, go to http:// yangchild.keenspace. com and check it out (just take the spaces out since the adress wont appear in an fanfiction document if it doesn't have spaces in it). That I'm forcing myself to keep up with, particularly since I have the first two chapters of it drawn and am starting to work on the third. That I just need to color without being highly creative when I'm not feeling creative. I am sorry fan fiction is rather low on my list, but you need to keep in mind that this is all for fun and nothing more. It's free for you people, so you really get what pay for. When you find fanfics you like, you tend to want them to update a lot. However, when they don't, you have to remember that the writers do have lives to keep up with outside of the internet. 

Now, so long as I'm talking about fanfics, some friends and I were talking while working on our Halloween costumes and came up with an interesting idea: a Pokémon everything crossover. Now, our idea isn't everyone goes running in to the Pokémon world. Rather, it would be along the lines of different anime character groups get dragged into an arena and have to fight Pokémon style (ie, Lina shouting "Gourry, I chose you!") if they want to go back home. Obviously, it is intended to be random and funny and no series is better than any other in it. It's all just based on who we want to pair up to fight (Such as Slayers vs. Ranma, Gundum Wing vs. Inuyasha, etc.). Would anyone be interested in reading that if the group of us (not just me, I promise) started writing it? 

Well, I've blabbed long enough. Go on, review. Or rant. Or yell at me. All three seem to work about as well. 


	11. Let the battles begin!

_Stalky. Skinny. Young. Little power._ Xellos listed off the adjective to describe his opponent. Figures they would put the monster in first. They didn't even give him a chance to watch what abilities were legal and which weren't. _I should be able to take him, no problem... even if I'm limited to physical attacks only._

His opponent was a golden dragon of about the same age as Filia named Maltrin. He took a fearsome stance, looking ready to pounce any second. Razor claws dug through the dirt under his hands and feet. The dragon's long tail swayed in the air, brandishing a large set of spikes. His overall appearance would normally have been enough to scare most people out of their minds. Your average human would have been cowering in fear from such a blood thirsty look. 

Xellos, however, showed no concern what so ever. After all, Xellos wasn't a normal human. He wasn't even mortal. Sure the dragon _might _be able to kill him, it the beast got lucky. However, the rules clearly stated that kill one's opponent was not allowed so Xellos had little fear of the young dragon even trying. 

Besides, deep down, despite the young his vicious appearance, the dragon was terrified of the monster before him. The monster, on the other hand, was savoring this tasty meal. It wasn't just him, either. All of the dragons in the room were frightened of him. Each one was radiating various negative emotions that gave him strength. 

"Go Xellos! Knock his block off!" Xaina cried from the stands. 

She and the rest of the slayers were sitting in a cleared out spot in the stands of the arena... cleared out because the other dragons were too afraid of Lina - _Dragon Spooker_ - Inverse and this bizarre monster child sitting on her shoulders. Xellos sighed internally, grateful that Beastmaster had extended his leash enough so that she wouldn't be dragged in to the fight as well. He didn't even want to think how her untrained abilities might decide to surface in a real battle. 

Xellos waved, wearing his usual confident smile. 

The bell sounded. 

The dragon took off. He barred his teeth as he made an all out charge, looking like he was simply going to bite the monster in half. A small burst of courage radiated off the dragon. Xellos smiled. _He thinks he can win, does he?_ Maltrin sped closer and closer... Xellos was gone!?! 

He skidded to a haunt, eyes frantically searching for his opponent. Xellos was no where in sight. The dragon scratched his head. Had the monster left? Well, if Xellos had decided to flee the arena then he forfeit. 

Maltrin grinned proudly. Of course that stupid monster fled. He was obviously afraid of the dragon's mighty powers. Really, what had those elders been so afraid of? The mighty _'Dragon Slayer'_ Xellos wasn't near as tough as they made him out to be. In fact, he was quite the coward if he ran away that quickly. 

The dragon paused in his thoughts as he heard the crowd shouting something. _Xellos... up? What are they..._

Klunk! The dragon was struck hard on the back of the head at the base of his spine. He was out cold before he even smashed into the ground. Xellos proudly floated down from his place in the air and landed on the unconscious dragon. The crowd became dead silent. 

A few seconds later, Xaina was heard cheering for him. Her voice was quickly drowned out by a chorus of boos from the dragons. Xellos just smiled and bowed. _That was actually kind of fun,_ he concluded. 

He teleported back over to Xaina as the unconscious dragon was dragged off the field. 

"That was fast!" Xaina stated as she floated over to him. 

"Disturbingly so," Lina added. 

"This is so barbaric," Amelia sighed. 

Xellos smiled. "Of course it is. They're dragons. Dragons are barbaric. I would have thought you knew that by now." 

The child's cat ears twitched as she started to pick up the hushed voices of some of the dragon spectators. She frowned as she began to sort out individual voices and phrases. "I don't think they're happy about you winning," Xaina stated as she looked around the arena. 

"Of course not," her teacher responded. "Dragons and monsters are bitter enemies. They hate seeing us win." 

"Which doesn't explain why you're doing any of this," the chimera next to Amelia growled. 

"That is a secret." 

Purple eyes gazed up at Xellos curiously. "Does this have anything to do with what you an' Beastmaster were..." 

Xellos clamped a hand over her mouth. "Yes, and shut up about it or you don't get to watch," he hissed in her ear so no one else would hear. Her ears drooped as she pouted. He removed his hand as his trade mark smile was once again plastered on his face. "Good Xaina. Later you can have some cat nip." 

She gave him a quizzical glare. "Why would I want cat nip?" 

"Why not? You are part cat." 

"I thought I was part monster." 

"You are. You're also part cat." 

"But mommy was a human; not a cat." 

"You look part cat so you must be part cat." 

"Then why do I have wings?" She flapped her wings to demonstrate. 

"There are winged cats." 

"Um, alright... but I still don't want any cat nip." 

"Really, than what do you want?" 

The child stopped to ponder this. "Mmmmm... how about... Ah! A staff! Like yours! ... Or the one Wraithand's making!" 

Xellos peeked open one eye in genuine confusion. The others all glanced at Xaina curiously. "Wraithand's making a staff?" Xellos queried. 

One of her purple gloved hands was clamped over her mouth as she flushed with embarrassment. She pulled the hand away and smiled innocently. "Uh, well, um, that was suppose to be a secret. Don't tell him I said anything." 

"What kind of staff?" 

"A really pretty one that's black. He showed it to me but told me not to tell anyone... not until it was done. Please don't tell." 

Xellos nodded but made a note to look in to it later.   


*****  


Fidget fidget. Jingle. Stare. Fidget. Jingle jingle. Dang it! Why couldn't she hold still? 

Filia let out a deep sigh as she stared at her human self in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed a deep crimson. The color bled down the front of her neck and continued on under her dress, showing clearly from her dragon form now. 

Her dress was white and plain, made of light fabric that breathed easily, letting the breeze coming in through the windows cool her off. A beaded belt with bells along the bottom was fastened around her waist giving the dress a little form to it, though not overly so. Over her feet were a pair of white slippers with dragons embroidered on them with golden thread. The normally straight blonde hair had been curled, then pulled back and up with several gaudy copper hair pins. Her hair sparkled from the little jewels and bells everywhere in it. 

The purpose of the dress, as she had been told, was not to show off the female's body, but rather to show off her purity. That was why they made it white and put bells on it to make her sing. That was what her mother had told her when she was a child and watched a bonding ceremony. 

Jingle. Filia sighed as the bells sounded off with every movement. _To make you sing with every step,_ she repeated in her mind. When she was little, Filia had thought it sounded beautiful. Now she found it annoying. 

_Am I really doing what's best?_ she asked herself for the hundredth time in the past few hours. _I... Yes... I think? I don't want to be alone forever... _

... forever... 

_But? _she questioned when her thoughts hesitated. 

_But... but what about Val? His people were slaughtered once before. What's to stop my mate from trying to completely finish the job? _

What makes you so certain he would care? Val is the only one, after all. Even if he does take a mate when he's older, his blood will become diluted over the generations and disappear anyway... **IF**_ he took a mate. There really would be little point in harming him... not much incentive to be nice, but no reason to harm him... _

... Anything else? 

Well... there's... there's... my shop! Yes, my shop! I wont give it up! If he wants to be my mate he'll have to come live with me at my shop. If he has a problem with that then... well... then that's his problem, not mine... 

Except he's my mate, so he would have to listen to me. Males may be the head of the house hold, but he's still becoming part of her family. She decides where they live. He'd probably come pretty willingly... might complain a little, but probably not much... 

What about the prophecy? 

What about it? 

I can't just leave it like this, can I? I mean, Lina... Lina would... 

The dragon woman let out a deep sigh as she stared at herself in the mirror. Lina can take care of herself without my help. She's been doing it for what, five years now? No, six... six whole years... And she faced down some of the worst creatures alive before I came along... like the Demon Dragon King and Hellmaster. I... I just helped with the last one... a little... 

Filia folded her arms together and rested them on the desk. She laid her chin down and moaned. 

_But... but... _

"But what?" she asked herself. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

See, I got another chapter done. And in November, too. I apologize for it not being sooner. I had it mostly written out about two weeks ago, but then scrapped it and completely redid it. I didn't like the way the battle went the first time I wrote it so I went back and changed it. 

I still plotting out the battles and actually have a question for people. Do you guys want to see Melgasia fight or should I make him a judge? I have ideas for both and was just curious what people thought they would like better. 

One last thing before I go. I would like to apologize for my ranting last time. I was having a bad week and getting a review that implied I wasn't going to post just made it worse. I am not abandoning this fic. I just haven't had the time or motivation to write it since it has been two years since I last saw Slayers. I don't mind constructive criticism (which I'm getting lots of for my Inuyasha fic now) since it actually helps me write better. However, asking if I meant '...in 2004' is constructive. I am sorry for not post much for this. I know it is frustrating. I hate when authors do that too. I am sorry and I am trying to get back in to a Slayers mode. I will be planning some of it out over my Thanksgiving break as well as working on another "birds" scene. 

Well, that is all. Again, sorry for not posting much. I will try to have two in December, but I only definitely have one done after finals are over. Till then. 


	12. Cheating?

"Cheating? How was I cheating?" Xellos inquired honestly. 

The hotty young priestess shoved several pieces of paper at him. "According to rule six, paragraph two, line three, and I quote," she smiled smugly, "No competitor shall at any time use teleportation spells of any type during the match. You used a teleportation spell in that fight. That's cheating and disqualifies you from the competition." 

The monster put on his usual happy-go-lucky smile. "What ever do you mean? I didn't use any teleportation spells. The thought of using one never crossed my mind. I know you can't teleport. It's against the rules, and I_ always_ follow the rules." 

The priestess glared in response. "Prove it." 

Xellos disappeared and then reappeared a few feet away. "This would be a teleport. I merely..." In the blink of an eye, he was next to her. "...moved. There is nothing in the rules that says I can not move about with all the speed I posses. I hardly see how it's my fault that I'm faster than all you slow dragons." 

This sent the priestess over the edge. She was just about to pounce on the monster when Milgasia laid a hand on her shoulder. He had been listening the entire time with quiet reserve. 

The older golden dragon let out a sigh. "Let it pass, Daria." 

"But Master Melgasia..." the young priestess tried to protest. 

He shook his head. "Monsters do move much faster and he is, I'm afraid, correct about the rules on movement." Xellos smirked in triumph. Melgasia shot him a cold stare. "However, the monster would be wise to make the distinction between a teleportation spell and simple movement more clear in order to prevent any further mixups." 

Daria grunted and scowled as Milgasia led her away, leaving Xellos in peace again. 

Xaina floated down from above him, where she had watched the entire scene. She sat in the air, as if on an invisible board, and stared him in the eyes. The child's violet pupils radiated something he hadn't seen in those eyes for a while: distrust. Her tail had puffed slightly and the bell on her tail ring jingled. 

Xellos peeked open one curious eye at her accusing gaze. "What?" 

"You just lied," she stated plainly. 

"What makes you think I lied?" 

She folded her little arms together. "I think I'm getting better at this reading emotions thing..." 

"What makes you so certain you read them right?" he countered as the familiar smirk covered his face again. 

The child's eyes grew wide. Her bottom lip trembled. "I didn't?" 

"That is a secret." 

Her cat ears flattened against the side of her scalp. "You're mean." 

"Why yes I am," he responded with a chuckle. Xaina pouted. 

There was loud cheering coming from the arena. Xaina's ears stood on end as her gaze darted to the door to the stands. 

"Must be starting the next fight," Xellos observed. I still need to see what's allowed and what's not. "Do you want to go watch?" His charge nodded. "Me too." The two teleported back in the arena.   


~*~*~  


She took a calm sip of her tea. Long blonde hair draped over her shoulders. Locks of gold hung in her sharp, dark eyes. A faint smile played across her full, painted lips. The bracelets on her wrists tinkled as her hands moved about. A long, white dress was loosely draped over her thin form. The cup was gently placed on the small, round table. 

"Interesting place for one such as yourself to spend her afternoon," A soft, masculine voice commented. 

The blonde regarded the golden dragon with a predatory smile. "Ah, Milgasia, so good to see you. Care to join me?" 

He eyed her skeptically, but sat across from her. The dragon glanced around at the other dragons completely ignoring her presence. "Interesting trick," he commented. "How are you doing it?" 

"A gift, from one of my servants. I believe you know this one..." 

Melgasia glared at her. "I am not interested in your slaves. We are not at war. Why are you here?" 

The woman took another sip of her tea, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath. She opened her eyes again and glanced at the dragons passing by. "Such calm creatures, normally. You certainly do get quite lively when there is sex involved, though." Her gazed flickered back to him. "A large waste of time, though. It's much easier for us." 

"That is because your kind do not take mates," the priest snorted. "I will repeat, what do you want and what is it you have sent your priest for?" 

She quirked an eye brow. "And what makes you certain that his participation is not his own doing?" 

"A monster would never willingly take a mate, period, let alone a dragon mate." 

"Then it makes his actions all the more curious, doesn't it?" she responded with a sharp smirk. He was about to protest, but she continued. "He, however, is not why I am here." A small piece of rolled up parchment suddenly appeared on the table. Purple wax with the emblem of a wolf pressed in it sealed the document shut. "I have a business proposition for your people." 

Carefully, Milgasia broke the seal, half expecting it to explode. When nothing happened, he unrolled the paper and read the contents carefully. His teal eyes turned to her skeptically. "This is?" 

"An interesting bit information I have come across." 

"It sounds like a prophecy... but there is obviously parts missing." 

"Indeed it is. This is a collection of the two copies I have acquired information from. Though a great deal is missing, I think you can get the general idea." 

He read it over again. "And what exactly do you want us to do with it?" 

"There is a dragon involved in this. We want you to find him..." 

"And turn him over to you, correct?" 

She waved a dismissive hand, making all the bracelets clink against each other. "No, no. Not at all. What could I possibly do with a dragon?" 

"Fulfill this proph..." 

"Who said anything about fulfilling it?" 

"You are a creature of Shabernigdo. I assumed you would be thrilled at the chance to destroy this world." 

"Not all of us wish to return to chaos just yet, priest." 

"Then what is it you want done?" 

"I wish for the dragon to be found and trained. I suppose you may kill him, if you wish. That does seem to be your method of dealing with problems." The blonde woman grinned viciously. 

Milgasia ignored the smirk and pressed on. "But you would prefer him alive?" 

"I would prefer him contained. I care not how you do it." Her eyes locked with his, pinning the dragon in place. "It is in _all_ of our best interests that this be controlled and quickly." 

He gave a slight snort. "And what of the others? The monster?" 

"I have the monster under control. She will not be a problem. The human is currently unborn. However, once the human is, I will have it contained as well." 

"Which leaves the demon..." 

"Whoever gets to him first," she leered. 

"And what do we get for cooperating with you?" 

"A few more years longer to live." The predator eyes flickered back to passing people. Many were hurrying back to the arena. "I do believe Xellos is the next up. You might want to hurry back to judge. After all, you might catch him cheating..." 

The paper was rolled back up and Milgasia stood. "I will take this to the elders. Beyond that, I promise nothing." He started to walk away, then stopped and turned back. "This..." He trailed off when she was nowhere in sight. All that was left was a small tea cup and saucer. Curious, he picked it up. Finely pained lavender images hung down from the rim and spread out across the body of the china. He picked up the matching plate and flipped it over to see the maker. "Filia Ul Copt," he read to himself. His brow furrowed. 

Loud boos from the arena caught his attention. _Xellos must be about to enter._ He sighed and headed for the judges stand, taking the tea cup and saucer with him.   


~~~~  


A pair of black eyes narrowed as they watched Melgasia leave. The fluttered back to the table for a moment, then towards the arena. _Should have known she was interfering... Oh well. Wont matter this time..._   


~*~*~  


Xellos grinned at the unconscious young dragon being dragged out. From her perch on his shoulders, Xaina waved. 

"This is fun," the child chirped. 

"Of course. Watching dragons quibble amongst each other is always fun," the trickster stated. 

She leaned forward so the two sets of violet eyes met. "Do dragons always fight like this?" 

Her teacher nodded. "They're dragons. Your experience with Filia should have taught you that all dragons are violent and selfish." 

"It's not just Filia?" 

"Nope." 

"Oh... So how come we don't teach them to be more like monsters? You know, more peaceful and calm?" the child inquired. 

Xellos put on his trade mark grin. "Oh, we have been trying. For centuries, actually." He faked a sigh and shrugged. "But they just refuse to listen. Must be their stubborn nature." 

The half cat child eyed him skeptically. "Really?" 

"Xaina, would I lie to you?" 

"Yes." 

He put on a hurt expression. "Xaina. That's cruel. I wont lie to you..." 

"Which implies that you have before." 

Xellos frowned. 

His senses fluttered to the champion currently leaving the arena. This golden dragon was a bit older than most of the others, and obviously more experienced. Two horns ivory horns protruded from the top of his snout, unlike most of the others' single nose horn. Xellos had seen him fight twice now, and both times the dragon had taken down his opponents in three or less hits. Of course, so far, most of the ones competing were young and inexperienced. 

The monster perked up. One gloved finger tapped Xaina on the nose. "You know, sometimes you are far too smart, Xaina. I suppose one of these days I'll have to do something about that." She bit his finger. He sent a mild shock through it and she instantly let go. "You shouldn't bite your allies. Makes them less cooperative in the long run. Besides, it's much more fun to play with their minds." 

"But..." 

"Go back to the stands with Zelgadiss and watch patiently like a good cat girl." 

"But I don't like Zelgadiss. He's mean and he yells at Amelia..." 

"Then be mean back." 

"But Mommy always said I should be nice to people, especially adults..." 

"Then be nice. I don't care. Just go." 

Xaina slumped and sighed. "Fine." She concentrated for a moment, then disappeared. 

The last champion strode by confidently. Xellos grinned, waiting for the dragon to pass. When he was out of the way, the trickster started walking into the arena. 

There was a sudden sharp smack on Xellos' back. He stopped and glared back. The dragon smirked, brandished his tail, and walked away. _He just hit me!?! That idiot dragon._ Xellos snorted. _Two can play this game..._ He raised his staff, ready to send a horrible shock through the back end of the dragon. After all, a little shock wouldn't kill the brute... and they weren't _technically_ in the arena right now. The crowd began to boo. He frowned and peeked open a dark violet eye. _Later..._   


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


A little later than I promised, I know. My finals were a nightmare. I'm glad they're over. Holidays were a little hectic and I haven't had much time at the computer. *sigh* Oh well. I have found times to get a little writing done and got two more chapters done besides this. *grins evilly* Xellos is really starting to rub off on Xaina. He he he. *and all of the Slayer's world trembles* 

Well, Xellos now has a rival. This will make things a little more interesting at least. All the while, Filia has no idea any of this is going on. Poor Filia. Poor poor Filia. 

I know the last chapter was a little bland, as some of you pointed out, but I needed to get some opinions on Milgasia's part and cut the chapter shorter than I planned. I really did picture Milgasia as a judge but I had ideas for him also being a competitor. I was curious as to what people wanted. 

Tenma Koneko, don't worry, the birds will be back. I promise, the birds will be back... and morbid... but they were pretty morbid (and strange) before, so I guess that's no different. 

You're going to slaughter me, Nightswift? But then you wont ever get anymore. ... Maybe we shouldn't leave you alone with Posmose. The two of you might be dangerous together. 

Our favorite trickster's name can be spelled with one of two 's', if you're curious lily23. 

Well, that's all for my comments. See you next chapter and thanks to everyone who is keep up with my story and it's lack of updates. Again, sorry about that. Hopefully, I will update more regularly from now on. 


End file.
